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AURORA WATCH: A brief but strong geomagnetic storm on April 9th sparked auroras as far south as Colorado: gallery. More auroras are possible tonight, mainly over Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, due to the ongoing effects of a solar wind stream blowing past Earth.
SPECTACULAR PROMINENCES: The little blue ball in this photo is Earth. The enormous cloud below it is one of two or three spectacular prominences dancing around the limb of the sun today:
Photo credit: Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York
Don't worry. Earth was added for comparison. We're nowhere near the massive, seething solar cloud. Even from a safe distance of 93 million miles, however, the prominence is easy to see--if you have a suitable solar telescope. Take a look.
more images: from Gary Palmer of Los Angeles, California; from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Andrew Chatman of Pittsford, NY; from John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from Didier Favre of Brétigny, France; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany;
STORMY HALOS: "The same sky that spawned dark tornados to the north delivered stunning sun halos over our Tampa skies--and moon halos nine hours later," says Florida photographer Martin Zloty. "Can you tell which is which?"
Hint: The sun halo is the one with blue skies.
These halos are caused by ice crystals floating in high cold clouds--probably cirrostratus clouds, which are often found at the advancing edge of storm fronts. Whenever you see a sun or moon halo, be alert also for icy pillars, 'dogs and other strange shapes in the sky.