They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store. |
|
|
BRIGHT EXPLOSION
ON THE MOON: Recently, a small boulder
hit the Moon and exploded with as much energy as
5 tons of TNT. NASA scientists say the explosion
was bright enough to see with the naked eye. [full
story] [video]
A BIG ASTEROID APPROACHES:
Near-Earth asteroid 1998
QE2 is approaching the Earth-Moon system for
a flyby on May 31st. There's no danger of a collision;
at closest approach the asteroid will be 3.6 million
miles away. Even at that distance, however, the
1.7-mile-wide space rock will be an easy target
for mid-sized backyard telescopes. Using a 14-inch
Celestron, Alberto Quijano Vodniza of Narino, Colombia
took this picture of 1998 QE2 on May 17th:
The sunlit side of the asteroid will
turn more squarely toward Earth during the first
week of June. At that time it will reach a maximum
brightness of 11th magnitude.
NASA radars will be monitoring the
flyby, too. "Asteroid 1998 QE2 will be an outstanding
radar imaging target at Goldstone and Arecibo and
we expect to obtain a series of high-resolution
images that could reveal a wealth of surface features,"
says
radar astronomer Lance Benner of JPL. "Whenever
an asteroid approaches this closely, it provides
an important scientific opportunity to study it
in detail to understand its size, shape, rotation,
surface features, and what they can tell us about
its origin."
Stay tuned for updates and observing
tips.
Realtime
Space Weather Photo Gallery
WEEKEND CME STRIKES:
Over the weekend, a pair of CMEs hit Earth--one
on May 18th (0100 UT) and another on May 19th (2250
UT). The impacts, especially the first one, rattled
Earth's magnetic field and sparked Northern Lights
visible as far south as Colorado. Some of the brightest
appeared over Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where photographer
Chris Cook took this self-portrait:
"This is the first time since
September 2005 that the lights have been visible
from here," says Cook. " It was a beautiful
display. During the peak, which lasted about 20
minutes, I could see red and pink pillars with my
unaided eye." With only a short exposure, Cook's
camera revealed the true depth of color shown above.
More auroras are possible tonight
as Earth's magnetic field continues to reverberate
from the impacts. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20%
chance of polar geomagnetic storms on May 20th.
Aurora alerts:
text,
voice.
Realtime
Aurora Photo Gallery
Realtime
Comet Photo Gallery
Realtime
Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009,
2011]
