ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER--TODAY: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. In the southern hemisphere, meteor rates are exceeding 20 per hour--an impressive display considering that it is muted by the glare from the nearly full Moon. Observers can look for more eta Aquarids before sunrise on Wednesday, May 6th; after that, the shower will subside. Sky maps: northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere.
ITS RAINING PLASMA ON THE SUN: A massive prominence is jutting out over the sun's southeastern limb today--and it's leaking plasma. Sylvain Chapeland filmed the gigantic structure from his backyard observatory in Gex, France:
"I tracked it for 2 hours using my 100mm refractor with an H-alpha filter (tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen)," explains Chapeland. " It was wonderful to discover in the resulting video so many fine patches of gas falling downward along the magnetic field lines. I measured some of them speeding at around 100,000 mph!"
Prominences like these are the subject of cutting edge research. Inside the structures, solar magnetic fields lift planet-sized clouds of hydrogen above the surface of the sun. Sometimes, hydrogen-rich plasma leaks out, producing a type of glowing hot rain.
Mysteriously, some of the "raindrops" plummet faster than ambient magnetic forces seem to allow. The theory of magnetic diffusion applied to solar prominences predicts much slower speeds than the 100,000 mph Chapeland measured. This rainstorm is breaking the speed limit!
There's more: A number of large prominences have sprung up around the periphery of the solar disk. Here they are. Amateur astronomers, if you have a safely-filtered solar telescope, now is a good time to look at the sun.
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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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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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