SPACE STATION FLYBYS: If you see a spaceship tonight, it's not your imagination. The International Space Station is flying over many US towns and cities this week. It's brighter than any star, easy to see, the only trick is knowing when to look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys. SUNSPOTS IN A DUST STORM: Yesterday, Sydney, Australia, experienced its worst dust storm in 70 years. The storm grounded planes, stopped traffic, and reduced visibility of familiar landmarks nearly to zero. Only one thing was easy to see in through the haze--sunspots: "The haze allowed me to take a photo of the sun without the use of any filters whatsoever," says photographer Andrew Catsaitis. "My Canon 20D captured a unique image of sunspots 1026 and 1027 in a dull dusty sky with an accompanying local tree line." The dust clouds formed in Australia's parched interior when gale force winds snatched up tons of topsoil and threw it high into the sky, before carrying it hundreds of miles to the east. The Sydney Morning Herald christened it "the day the country blew into town." Warning: Naked-eye observations of the sun can be dangerous even when the sun is dimmed by tons of blowing dust. For best results and maximum eye safety, use a properly-filtered solar telescope. more sunspot images: from John Nassr of Baguio, Philippines; from Paul Haese of Blackwood, South Australia; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota; from S.Berube and J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from John C McConnell of Maghaberry Northern Ireland; from Parimal Dave of Pune, India; from Stefano Sello of Pisa, Italy; from Gianluca Valentini of Rimini, Italy; from Ingmar Glas of Weißenfeld, Bavaria, Germany; from Dr. Wayne Wooten of Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, Florida; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Athanasios Georgiou of Filyro, Greece; from Gianluca Valentini of Rimini, Italy; from Fulvio Mete of Rome, Italy; DRACULA'S RAINBOW: Earlier this month, Dóra Nehéz was sitting in the window seat of an airplane that had just taken off from Tirgu Mures, Transylvania. "We were about 1 km high when I looked out the window and saw a rainbow underneath the airplane," says Nehéz. "It lasted about a minute--long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures." Rainbows are usually seen by looking up, but not this time. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley offers a grave explanation for the unusual phenomenon: "Unlike a certain Transylvanian resident, rainbows prefer sunlight and their reflections really are visible in mirrors!" he says. "Because rainbows are caused by sunlight reflecting from raindrops, rainbows and the sun are always located on the opposite sides of the sky. In this case, a high sun combined with fortuitous raindrops below the airplane to produce a very low 'bow." "Look for such rainbows when coming into land on a showery day," he suggests. "It's something to sink your teeth into." Sept. 2009 Aurora Gallery [previous Septembers: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001] Explore the Sunspot Cycle |