AURORA WATCH: A solar wind stream is heading for Earth, due to arrive on Sept. 14th. Sky watchers from Alaska to Scandinavia should be alert for auroras this weekend: gallery. HARVEST MOON: This weekend's full Moon (Sept. 14/15) has a special name--the Harvest Moon. It's the full moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox (Sept. 22). In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. This Friday night moonshot comes from Todd Hargis of Horseshoe Bay, Texas: "Through the high thin clouds of Hurricane Ike, ice crystals refracted the moonlight to create a beautiful 22o halo," says Hargis. More haloes are in the offing--possibly accompanied by lunar coronas, moondogs, and who knows what else? Keep an eye on the Harvest Moon this weekend. more images: from Bob King of Duluth, Minnesota; from Ashmeet Singh of New Delhi, India; from Frank Ryan Jr of Co. Clare, Ireland; from Mustafa Erol of Antalya, Turkey; from Tamas Ladanyi of Hegyestu, Hungary; ARACHNIDA MAJOR: In Trieste, Italy, photographer Marco Fulle has discovered what holds the constellations in place. It is a protenaceous silk material, elastic, sticky, and with a tensile strength greater than steel. Most people call it "spider's web": "On the wet morning of Sept. 9th, I happened to see a perfect spider's web. Fascinated by the geometry, I applied a few dewdrops to obtain a likeness of our northern polar sky. With Cassiopaeia on one side and the Big Dipper on the other, the spider was at the center of things, and she seemed very happy with that result!" Strange, but true: Spiders are a popular target for astrophotographers. Browse the images from Lois Reinert of Tracy, Minnesota; from Maurice Gavin of London, England; from Ed Kreminski of Westerville, Ohio; from Jan Hemmer of Sint Maarten, Noordholland, the Netherlands; from Denis Joye of Boulogne, France. Sept. 2008 Aurora Gallery [Aurora Alerts] [Night Sky Cameras] |