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THE
SEASONS ARE CHANGING: Today, March
20th, is the date of the vernal equinox. At 7:21
pm EDT (2321 UT), the sun crosses the equator heading
north. This marks the start of spring in the Northern
Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
Happy Equinox!
SUPER
FULL MOON: The super full Moon of
March 19th was the biggest and closest full Moon
of the past 18 years. It might also be the most
photographed full Moon--ever. Photographers
around the world lined up to take pictures like
this:
"I've been planning this shot
for a long time," says Paco Bellido of Cordoba,
Spain. "Using Google Earth, I calculated the
best place to set up my camera; then I followed
my GPS to the spot. I waited for the Super Moon
to rise and--voilá!--there it was behind Espejo's
Castle."
Spaceweather.com has been inundated
by fine pictures like Bellido's. Browse the links
for selected moonshots:
from
Peter Scott of Joss Bay, Kent, England; from
Amirreza Kamkar of Qayen, Khorasan, Iran; from
Andrew Greenwood of Kerridge Ridge, England;
from
Stephan Heinsius of Bad Soden, Germany; from
Azhy Hasan of Arbil city, Kurdistan, Iraq; from
Daisuke Tomiyasu of Higashinada, Kobe, Japan;
from
Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland; from
Jan Koeman of Neeltje Jans, the Netherlands;
from
Ole Ambrosiussen of Hørbylunde bakke, Silkeborg,
Denmark; from
Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya, Norway; from
Francisco Diego of London, England; from
Jens Hackmann of Weikersheim, Germany; from
Mahdi Zamani of Tehran, Iran; from
Marco Langbroek of Leiden, the Netherlands;
from
Gregory Scheckler of North Adams, Massachusetts;
from
Miguel Claro of Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra, Portugal;
from
Peter Rosén of Central Stockholm, Sweden; from
Kevin Palmer of Lindenhurst, Illinois; from
Jonathan Sabin of St. Petersburg, Florida; from
Bryan Hansel of Grand Marais, Minnesot
ICONIC
ERUPTION: A huge filament of magnetism
and hot plasma blasted off the sun's southwestern
limb on March 19th around 1200 UT. NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory recorded the action:
Click
to view a full-disk, high-resolution image
The eruption was not Earth-directed, but it did
attract plenty of attention on our planet. Many
amateur astronomers in Europe witnessed the blast
and said it was the biggest one they'd ever seen.
This event continues the recent trend of increasing
solar activity, and shows anew that Solar Cycle
24 is gaining steam after a long period of relative
quiet.
more images: from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from
Sebastien Kersten of Le Cocq, Belgium; from
Steve Wainwright of Gower S.Wales UK; from
Strikis Iakovos - Marios of Athens Greece; from
Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from
Peter Desypris of Athens,Greece; from
Emiel Veldhuis of Zwolle, the Netherlands; from
Mark Townley of Brierley Hill, West Midlands;
from
Martin Titheradge of Essex, England
March
2011 Aurora Photo Gallery
[previous Marches: 2010,
2009, 2008,
2007, 2006,
2005,
2004, 2003,
2002]
