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EXTRATERRESTRIAL AURORAS:
Lately, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been
monitoring some lovely Northern Lights--on Saturn! Saturn's
auroras tower 750 miles above the planet's atmosphere, forming
a ring of shimmering light wider than Earth itself. Mission
scientist Andy Ingersoll discusses the findings in a 40
MB video from NASA.
SPACESHIP SIGHTINGS:
The double flybys are over. Space shuttle
Atlantis landed in Florida on Friday morning, Nov. 27th, leaving
the International Space Station (ISS) to impress observers
all by itself. No problem:
"The ISS put on a great show Friday night," says
photographer Michael Harrison of Plano, Texas. "It was
easy to see even in the brightly moonlit sky."
The space station, solo but still sensational, will continue
flying over North America and Europe for several nights to
come. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker
to find out when to look.
more images: from
Mustafa Erol of Antalya/Turkey; from
Keith Geary of Shercock, Co.Cavan, Ireland; from
Doug Zubenel of De Soto, Kansas; from
Ian Mercier of East Angus, Québec, Canada; from
Sylvain Weiller of Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse, France; from
Ben Huset of New Brighton, MN; from
Bryan Tobias of San Antonio, TX; from
Bill Arnold of Woolmarket, MS; from
Thomas Faber of Marietta, GA;
CLEAR AIR RAINBOW:
Two days ago, photographer Martin McKenna
was driving down a country road near Maghera, Northern Ireland,
when he saw a curious thing. "There was a faint rainbow
arcing through the crystal-clear blue sky," he says.
Rainbows usually require rain, so a clear air rainbow is a
curious thing indeed. Where did it come from? The answer may
be found below McKenna's picture of the phenomenon:
"There was some rain," explains
McKenna. "Strong winds had blown some precipitation over
from the northwest where showers where gathering in the distance,
and this is what caused the 'bow. It looked most unusual."
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley says that
there is another way to make clear air rainbows. The method
requires conditions of high humidity: "A rainbow can
be formed by droplets condensing in a layer of saturated and
otherwise apparently clear air. Droplets formed in this way
tend to be small, and the rainbows they make are relatively
broad."
"Clear air rainbows are always a surprise,"
he adds, "and where the raindrops come from can be puzzling."
Sky watchers should look for them any time the sky is blue.
November
Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Novembers: 2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002, 2001]
2009
Leonid Meteor Gallery
[previous Leonids: 1998,
2001,
2002,
2006]
Explore
the Sunspot Cycle |
