ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The shower's peak on May 5th and 6th will be muted by the glare of a nearly full Moon, reducing the number of visible meteors to no more than about 10 per hour. The best time to look is during the hours before sunrise on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Sky maps: northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere.
COVID-19 SKIES: Nobody likes a lockdown--except maybe Mother Nature. With many industrialized countries paralyzed by the coronavirus, air pollution has dropped, seismic activity has waned, and wildlife is reclaiming some territory. Frankie Lucena of Puerto Rico points out another effect: "Night skies are darkening," he says.
"I prepared these images to show how the COVID-19 lockdown has dramatically decreased light pollution in the US and in Puerto Rico," says Lucena.
To investigate the change in light pollution, Lucena accessed nighttime images from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board the Suomi NPP satellite. The instrument's Day-Night band is excellent at detecting urban lights, moonlit clouds, and auroras. Dramatic changes in urban lighting have clearly happened during the past month as normal commerce and travel have slowed. The data are available here.
"As a night sky photographer and astronomy enthusiast I embrace this change," says Lucena, "but I do wish it was under better circumstances."
Indeed, we at Spaceweather.com join Lucena in hoping for a speedy end to the pandemic. Light pollution is bad, but there are better ways to reduce it.
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LARGE SOLAR PROMINANCE: Do you need a haircut? So does the sun. "Look who else needs a trim!" says astrophotographer Alan Friedman, who sends this picture from Buffalo, New York:
"This is one of three areas of prominence activity on the sun," he reports.
Prominences are clouds of hydrogen held above the sun's surface by solar magnetic fields. The big prominence Friedman photographed is 20 times taller than Earth and definitely unstable. Photographs taken by other amateur astronomers just hours apart show the structure's shape shifting perilously. An eruption could be in the offing. Submit your images here.
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MOTHER'S DAY IS THIS SUNDAY! Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love:
Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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