METEORS FROM HALLEY'S COMET: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Over the weekend, NASA all-sky cameras detected 9 Orionid fireballs, a sign that the shower is getting underway. Forecasters expect as many as 20 Orionids/hour when the shower peaks on Oct. 21st. The best time to look is Wednesday morning during the hours before sunrise: sky map.
IS THIS SUNSPOT CRACKING UP? Yesterday, Italian astronomer Alessandro Bianconi pointed his solar telescope at sunspot AR2776. The active region appears to be cracking up. A bright canyon of light--also known as a "light bridge"--is opening in the sunspot's primary core:
The bridge is about 5,000 miles long, roughly equal to the diameter of Mars. These dimensions make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.
The nature of light bridges is not fully understood. Some research suggests that magnetic fields at the base of a light bridge are busy cross-crossing and reconnecting--the same explosive process that sparks solar flares. Does this mean the primary core of AR2776 will explode--or quietly fall apart? More often than not, light bridges herald the breakup of a sunspot. Either way, something is about to happen. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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CAPT. KIRK BOBBLEHEAD (COLLECTOR'S ITEM): To support their crowdfunded research program, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have launched James T. Kirk to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray balloon. Note the moon over Kirk's shoulder in this photo taken 36 km (118,100 ft) above Earth's surface:
You can have him for $170.10. The price is the serial number of the Enterprise, NCC1701, divided by 10. The students are selling Kirk to buy more helium! He comes with a greeting card showing the high-quality resin bobblehead in flight and telling the story of his journey to the stratosphere and back again.
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