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NEW HORIZONS: Pluto is a world of mystery. It has never been visited by any spacecraft. The best pictures of Pluto are blobby and indistinct. Astronomers can't even decide what Pluto is--a planet, a Kuiper Belt Object, an ice-dwarf? NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will reveal all when it reaches Pluto in 2015. The spacecraft launched today: full story.
NEW SUNSPOT: Here we go again. For the third time this week, a new sunspot is materializing. Sunspot 848 poked through the sun's surface yesterday and has quickly blossomed into a double spot about 30,000 miles wide:
A 24 hour SOHO movie of the sun: Jan. 18-19.
The two components of sunspot 848 are each about the size of Earth. Impressive: planet-sized objects growing in less than 24 hours. What will this active region do today? Stay tuned.
BLUE MOON ALERT: If you live in Alaska, be alert for blue moons this week. The Augustine Volcano located 185 miles from Anchorage is shooting plumes of ash 8+ miles into the air. Volcanic eruptions like this have been known to turn the moon blue. (continued below)
A blue moon, photographed in 2003 by Tom King of Watuga, TX: more.
People saw blue moons in 1983 after Mexico's El Chichon volcano erupted. And there are reports of blue moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
Ash is the reason. When bits of ash slightly wider than the wavelength of red light fill the air, red light is strongly scattered, while other colors pass. White moonbeams turn blue and even green.
Forest fires, sand storms and icy clouds can do the same thing. Contrary to popular belief, blue moons are real.