GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1): A solar wind stream is approaching Earth. ETA: Oct. 20th. NOAA forecasters say that G1-class geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when it arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
THE SUN'S ELUSIVE COUNTERGLOW: It has been called "the skygazer's holy grail." In fact, most have never heard of it: Gegenshein is a faint patch of light in the night sky directly opposite the sun. Fins Eirexas photographed it on Oct. 15th from Mazaricos, Spain:
"This is the Gegenschein imaged above the dolmen of Gándara de Baiñas, from the Fervenza reservoir," says Eirexas. "A rare occasion to see two elusive targets: the fuzzy Gegenschein struggling with light pollution and this megalithic monument, emerged from the water due to the current draught."
Gegenschein is German for"counter-shine." It’s sunlight bouncing off dust in the plane of the solar system. At the antisolar point, each grain is fully lit, like a tiny full Moon, so it reflects sunlight straight back toward Earth.
The glow is several times wider than the full Moon and so dim that city lights wipe it out. To see it you need a dark, moonless sky around midnight, when the gegenschein sits highest. A dolmen pointing the way helps, too.
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THE HALLOWEEN FIREBALLS ARE COMING: We love our new Backyard Astronomy Alert Service, and now is a good time to try it out. Earth is entering the Taurid debris stream--source of the annual Halloween fireballs. For the next 3 to 4 weeks, Earth will surf through a complex meteoroid field producing bright meteors often seen while trick-or-treating.
Subscribers to our service receive instant text messages when anything is happening in the sky--meteor outbursts, space station flybys, bright auroras and much more. Companion emails contain sky maps and observing tips--everything you need to fully experience the event. It also makes a great gift!
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