| AURORA ALERT:
Did you sleep through the northern lights? Next time get a
wake-up call: Spaceweather
PHONE.
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NEW-CYCLE SUNSPOT:
The first sunspot of the new year has appeared.
Sunspot 1010 in the sun's southern hemisphere is a member of new
Solar Cycle 24. Readers, if you have a solar
telescope, take a look and witness sunspot genesis in action.
POWER GRIDS IN PERIL:
The National Academy of Sciences has released
an important new report detailing how geomagnetic storms could damage
the infrastructure of modern society. An area of particular vulnerability
is power grids. Ground currents induced during century-class storms
can actually melt the copper windings of huge, multi-ton transformers
at the heart of some power distribution systems. Because modern
power grids are interconnected, a cascade of failures could sweep
across the country, rapidly cutting power to tens or even hundreds
of millions of people:
According to the report, "impacts would be felt on interdependent
infrastructures with, for example, potable water distribution affected
within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24
hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage
disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on."
Melted transformers can take months to repair or replace--so a single
extreme storm could make itself felt long after solar activity subsides.
Nothing, it seems, is immune from space weather. (audio)
Full report: Severe
Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts
(National Academy of Sciences)
ICE HALOS:
Clouds vex astronomers, but they're not always a bad thing. "The
same high clouds that prevented me from seeing more Quadrantid
meteors on the night of Jan. 3rd created a beautiful display
of ice halos when the sun came up in the morning," reports
Mila Zinkova of San Francisco, Californa.
Among the network of arcs and loops, Zinkova identified "a
22o halo, a 46o halo, a Parry arc, an upper
tangent arc and a sundog. I captured them all using my Canon
Digital Rebel XTi."
So, the next time vexacious clouds drift overhead, look around
the sun. You may be pleased with what you see.
more images: from
Stuart Thomson of Maine; from
Thomas M. Faber of Alpharetta, Georgia; from
Matěj Grék of Lysá hora, Beskydy mountains, Czech Republic;
from
Jodie of Fort St John, British Columbia; from
Andrea Tolman of Basin, Wyoming; from
Gilbert Tennant of Hampton, Ontario; from
Steve Yezek of Grafton, Iowa
Jan.
2009 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Januaries: 2008,
2007, 2005,
2004, 2001]
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