UNEXPECTED GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A G2-class geomagnetic storm occurred during the early hours of Aug. 22nd when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth unexpectedly tipped south. This opened a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the strong but short-lived storm. Free: Aurora Alerts
THE GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE: On Monday, Aug. 21st, the Moon passed directly in front of the sun, producing a total solar eclipse visible in the USA from coast to coast. "The sky darkened so rapidly it was almost impossible to believe," reports Mark Rosengarten, who photographed totality from Madras, Oregon:
"You could actually see darkness in the sky rushing in from the west before totality hit," he says. "As the Moon slid into place over the sun, the corona became visible. There was an inky black circle in the sky with a shimmery ring around it, from which emanated the silvery tendrils of the corona."
"After the eclipse, I fought five hours of absolutely horrifying traffic going home to Portland,"adds Rosengarten. "It was worth every minute."
Outside the path of totality, people witnessed a partial eclipse. The sun turned into a luminous crescent as the Moon passed by, off center. Charles Yeager of Birmingham, Alabama, photographed crescent-shaped sunbeams on an American flag:
"I shot an eclipse in 1984, so I knew to look for this kind of eclipse highlight," he says.
Note: Last week, NASA-supported researchers at Predictive Science Inc. used magnetohydrodynamic models of the sun's atmosphere to predict the appearance of this solar eclipse. Take a look at Rosengarten's photo one more time, then compare it to the prediction. Good match!
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery
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