They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store. They make a unique Valentine's gift. | | |
SPACE WEATHER IN A GADGET-DRIVEN WORLD: Authorities in Washington DC caused a stir over the weekend when they announced at the annual AAAS meeting that high-tech modern society is increasingly vulnerable to solar storms. "The last time we had a maximum in the solar cycle, the world was a very different place," noted NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco. "Cell phones are now ubiquitous [and we] rely on them for so many different things." Others noted a myriad of GPS-dependent technologies that could be brought down by a strong solar flare. This is old news to many readers of spaceweather.com. Nevertheless, the web is abuzz with reports from the meeting.
BIG SUNSPOTS: Sunspot complex 1161-1162 quieted down over the weekend, producing few intense flares. Could it be the quiet before the storm? The tempestuous appearance of the region suggests more action could be in the offing. Rogerio Marcon sends this picture from his backyard observatory in Campinas SP Brasil:
Marcon recorded the image using an H-alpha filter tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen. It reveals several dark magnetic cores, each larger than Earth itself, interconnected by turbulent arcs of magnetized plasma. Similar filters are now available in the Space Weather Store for readers who would like to see these 'spots with their own (safely filtered) eyes.
NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours. Stay tuned for action.
more images: from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Andy Burns of El Bosque, Sierra de Cadiz, Spain; from Raymond Lalonde of Cornwall, Ont, Canada; from Jan Timmermans of Valkenswaard, The Netherlands; from Luca Tesoro of Mercogliano (AV), Italy;
FLICKERING SOLAR SAIL: NASA has joined forces with Spaceweather.com to stage a solar sail photography competition. Top prize: $500. Peter Rosen hasn't won yet, but with this movie of NanoSail-D, he has definitely entered the contest:
Photo details: Canon EOS 5D Mk II, 85/1.2 lens @ 1.2, 55 one-sec exposures at ISO 3200.
Not to be confused with the airliner at the top of the photo, NanoSail-D is the star-like object below denoted by a cross. Watch the movie again and note how the sail flickers in the inset circle.
Rosen describes what happened: "I photographed NanoSail-D from Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 4th. The sail was very low on the horizon, but I was able to catch it using my Canon EOS 5D digital camera. I estimate its magnitude between +6 and +7."
"There are many other satellites in the field of view and some airplanes coming in for landing at the local airport," he continues. "NanoSail-D behaves very differently from other satellites as its visibility seems to pulsate in short flashes sometimes several per second. This image zooms in on the phenomenon. I wonder if it due to small changes in the sail's direction and thus reflectivity?"
Indeed, sunlight is almost certainly glinting off the sail's reflective fabric. Researchers believe these flickers could, from time to time, develop into spectacular flares, outshining the brightest stars and perhaps even exceeding the luminosity of Iridium flares. At the moment, these flares are unpredictable because the sail's orientation is not known precisely enough to forecast sun-glints. The only way to catch one is to go outside and look.
NanoSail-D flyby times: on the web, on your cell phone.
NEW: NanoSail-D Photo Gallery
[NASA: Solar Sail Stunner] [Photo Contest]
February 2011 Aurora Photo Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]
