NEW AND IMPROVED: Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a field-tested global satellite tracker. The Satellite Flybys app now works in all countries. | | | THE SUN AWAKENS, NASA IS WARY: The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and the next few years could bring much higher levels of solar activity. NASA is keeping a wary eye on the sun as officials meet in Washington DC on June 8th to discuss the potential consequences of stormy space weather. Get the full story from Science@NASA. BLUE STAR MEETS RED PLANET: "Tonight, look to the west after the sky has gone dark and there you'll find a spectacular new 'double-star,'" says Pete Lawrence of Selsey UK. "It is Mars in conjuncton with the bright blue star Regulus." He took this picture on June 5th: "Both are about the same brightness, but the color contrast is absolutely wonderful," he continues. "An exquisite sight with the naked eye, binoculars or low power in a telescope - catch it while it lasts!" [sky map] more images: from Jens Hackmann of Weikersheim, southern Germany; JUPITER IMPACT: Amateur astronomers Anthony Wesley of Australia and Christopher Go of the Philippines have independently observed an impact event on Jupiter. The strike occurred at 20:31 UT on June 3rd and produced a bright flash of light in the giant planet's cloudtops: Photo credit: Anthony Wesley, Broken Hill Australia "I still can't believe that I caught a live impact on Jupiter," says Go, who has made a must-see video of the event. "There were no visible remains at the impact point for the next half hour or so, until sunrise put an end to the imaging," says Wesley. The nature of the impactor is presently unknown. It might have been an asteroid or a comet. In either case, a dark and cindery debris field is expected to develop around the impact point; that's what has happened in the aftermath of previous Jupiter impacts. Astronomers are encouraged to monitor Jupiter, and stay tuned for updates. Update #4 (June 5, 1200 UT): "This morning I woke up at 6 am local time (9 UT) to see Jupiter with my 120 mm refractor," reports Mariano Ribas of Buenos Aires, Argentina. "The planet was high in the sky (45-50° over horizon). I observed carefully for almost two hours with my telescope, using 110 to 200 x, but I saw nothing at all in the impact zone, which transited at 10:51 UT." Update #3 (June 4, 2200 UT): A full day has elapsed since the flash, and many observatories have imaged the impact site. So far, a prominent debris cloud has not emerged. Was this impactor too small to produce much debris? Observations will continue... Update #2 (June 4 1500 UT): Wesley has posted a 46 MB video of the impact on his web page. A smaller version is available here. Update #1 (June 4, 0100 UT): Anthony Wesley has pinpointed the impact site at Jovian latitude minus 16.1o, and central meridian longitudes CM1: 300o, CM2: 33.8o and CM3: 210.4o. May 2010 Aurora Gallery [previous Mays: 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002] [aurora alerts] |