RETURN OF THE LEONIDS: Astronomers from Caltech and NASA are predicting a near-storm of meteors in 2009 based on a surprising outburst of Leonids just a few weeks ago. Get the full story from Science@NASA. GREAT CONJUNCTION: Postulate: One moon + two planets = the sky show of the year. The proof may be found in this photo submitted by Jamie Russell from the United Kingdom's Isle of Wight: He opened the shutter of his Canon 300D on the evening of Dec. 1st moments after Venus emerged from behind the Moon. Meanwhile, Jupiter looked on from above. Together, the ensemble beamed down on St. Catherine's Lighthouse, built 170 years ago atop the Niton Undercliffe. "It was a lovely scene," he says. All around the world, sky watchers watched with pleasure as Venus, Jupiter and the Moon gathered in one tiny patch of sky and then dispersed again. But was it really the sky show of the year? Browse the gallery and decide for yourself: Great Conjunction Photo Gallery PROTO-SUNSPOTS: Magnetic fields are pushing through the surface of the sun today, producing a pair of planet-sized dipoles with the potential to form sunspots. Circles denote their locations in this SOHO magnetic map of the sun: The high-latitude and magnetic polarity of these "proto-sunspots" identify them as members of new Solar Cycle 24. Even if they fail to coelesce into truly dark-cored sunspots, they are still significant. They remind us that Cycle 24 is approaching and the eerie quiet of solar minimum won't last forever. Readers, if you have a solar telescope, target the proto-sunspots for a sign of things to come. Nov. 2008 Aurora Gallery [Previous Novembers: 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2001, 2000] |