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SOLAR WIND: A solar wind stream is blowing past Earth, but it is a thin stream, blowing steadily and doing little to stir geomagnetic storms. Auroras are unlikely tonight.
FIREBALL SIGHTINGS: On. Nov. 2nd, a fireball streaked over El Paso, Texas, and when it exploded in mid-air it was brighter than a full moon. Jim Gamble recorded the event using a low-light video camera:
Click to view a full-sized movie.
Gamble's camera is one of many in the Sandia Meteor Detection Network. Equipped with a fisheye lens, it monitors the whole sky every night. "I've been doing this for five years now," says Gamble, "and there seems to be a marked increase in fireball activity [in the fall] of this year as compared to previous years."
EXTRA: Gamble's camera caught another fireball on Nov. 5th: movie.
The source of these fireballs may be the Taurid meteor shower, which peaks between Nov. 5th and 12th. So keep an eye on the sky. You might see something bright and startling: full story.
SUN PILLARS: Winter is coming, which means the sun is rising later every day. If you have to go to work or school, chances are, you're waking up before dawn. Perfect! You can go to the window, look east, and catch a sun pillar.
Ed Stokes of Randolph Center, Vermont, caught this one on Nov. 1st:
Sun pillars are caused by tiny ice crystals floating 5 to 10 km above the ground. The crystals catch rays from the rising sun, reflecting and bending them into a vertical column of light. Look for sun pillars above and below the sun whenever the sun is near the horizon.