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NEW SUNSPOT: A
new sunspot is emerging
in the sun's northern hemisphere. After several months of almost-relentlessly
blank suns, "this is like a breath of fresh plasma," says
photographer Pete Lawrence who sends this
picture from Selsey, UK. The magnetic polarity of the emerging
spot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot
Cycle 24.
more images: from
N. Hebert et al. of South Portland, Maine; from
Didier Favre of Brétigny sur Orge, France; from
Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from
Adrian Guzman of San Jose, California;
LAST SUNRISE OF SUMMER:
"Good-bye summer," says Saeid
Aghaei. "This morning I photographed the last sunrise of
summer 2008 here in Neyshabur, Iran."
And with the end of summer comes the beginning of autumn. The northern
autumnal equinox takes place today, Monday, Sept. 22nd, at 15:44
UT (11:44 a.m. EDT) when the sun crosses the celestial equator heading
south for the year. Autumn begins in the northern hemisphere, and
spring in the southern hemisphere. Happy equinox!
more images: from
Aymen Ibrahem at The Plateau of Giza, Egypt
SIGHTINGS: "Last
night, I watched as the International Space Station (ISS) chased
Jules Verne
across the sky," reports photographer Rick Stankiewicz of Ontario,
Canada. "This
sequence of images shows them rising in the west over my backyard
at about 8:52 pm local time."
"I was lucky to have caught these two spacecraft
in the same field of view," he says. "Until recently they
were separated in their orbits by several minutes, but now they
appear to be converging and are within 30 seconds of one another.
My goal was to capture a shot of the Jules Verne before it is destroyed
forever on Sept. 29th when ESA mission controllers command it to
re-enter Earth's atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean."
The convergence of the two spacecraft is a deliberate
maneuver, putting ISS astronauts in good a position to witness Jules
Verne's reentry and fiery destruction. Researchers on two
NASA aircraft will be watching, too. Stay tuned for fireball
pictures!
Until then, you the reader may be able to see Jules
Verne gliding over your own backyard with ISS in hot pursuit. Check
the Satellite Tracker for viewing times.
more images: from
Matthew Cook of Ann Arbor, Michigan; from
Phillip Chee of South Monaghan, Ontario, Canada; from
Joe Ricci of Rochester, New York; from
Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from
Steve Beckle of Aurora, Illinois;
Sept.
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Aurora Alerts] [Night
Sky Cameras]
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