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ANOTHER
STRONG FLARE: So much for the decay
of sunspot AR1429. The active region unleashed another
strong flare on March 13th, an M7-class
eruption that peaked around 1741 UT. A first-look
image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory
show's the flare's extreme ultraviolet flash. The
blast accelerated energetic protons toward Earth
and a solar radiation storm is now
developing around our planet. Stay tuned for
updates. Space weather
alerts: text,
phone.
VENUS-JUPITER
CONJUNCTION: This is a great week
to admire the sunset. Venus and Jupiter are side-by-side
only 3o apart in the western sky, beaming
through the twilight as soon as the sun goes down.
Photographer Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland, recorded
the scene at nightfall on March 12th:
"Venus and Jupiter are like two
lanterns illuminating the darkness," says Nikodem.
"It's a wonderful sight."
The two planets are closest together
on March
12th and March
13th. Try to catch them before the sky fades
completely black. Venus and Jupiter surrounded by
twilight blue is a wonderful sight indeed.
more images: from
Jimmy Westlake of Stagecoach, Colorado; from
Peter Wine of Dayton, Ohio; from
Laurent Laveder of Pluguffan, Brittany, France;
from
Rhiannon Palframan of Cookham Dean, Berkshire,
UK; from
John Cordiale of Edgecomb Pond, Bolton NY; from
Ulf Jonsson of Luleå, Sweden; from
Alexander Birkner of Eppelborn, Germany; from
Diana Bodea of Ibiza, Spain; from
Andrey A. Belkin of Moscow, Russia; from
Vesa Vauhkonen of Rautalampi, Finland; from
Mitchell Krog of Magaliesburg, South Africa;
from
Sven Melchert of Stuttgart, Germany; from
Bob Northup of Studio City CA
BROKEN
RECORD? The recent sustained activity
of sunspot AR1429 has kept the Arctic Circle alight
with auroras for almost two weeks. "I have spent
many thousands of hours watching and photographing
the Northern Lights," says aurora tour guide
Chad Blakely of Abisko Sweden, "and I can honestly
say that I have never seen the auroras this strong
for so many days in a row." In a movie he made
last night, March 12th, a green tornado of light
swirls across Venus and Jupiter:
"We were all absolutely stunned
by the natural beauty of this display," says
Blakeley. "I know I sound like a broken record,
but sunspot 1429 just will not stop!"
The Antarctic Circle has been similarly
active. Click on the links for recent shots
of Southern Lights: from
Dave Headland of Oamaru, New Zealand; from
Ian Stewart of Tinderbox, Tasmania, Australia;
from
Nick Monk of Mountain River, Tasmania, Australia;
from
John Golja of Tooradin, Victoria, Australia;
from
Stephen Voss of Invercargill, New Zealand; from
Dave Headland of Oamaru, Southern New Zealand
WEEKEND
SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot AR1429 erupted
again over the weekend. On Saturday, March 10th,
it produced a powerful M8-class flare that almost
crossed the threshold into X-territory.
During the flare, New Mexico amateur astronomer
Thomas Ashcraft recorded a series of radio bursts
at 21 and 28 MHz:
Dynamic spectrum courtesy Wes Greenman,
Alachua County, Florida
The roaring
sounds you just heard are caused by shock waves
plowing through the sun's atmosphere in the aftermath
of the explosion. "There is incredible complexity
in the waveforms," notes Ashcraft. "This
is a recording of one of the most turbulent events
in all of Nature!"
more data: from
the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project in
Atlanta, Georgia; from
Eric Todd of Philadelphia, PA
February
2012 Aurora Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002]
