 The
space shuttle is docked to the ISS. Would you like a call when the
pair fly over your backyard? Sign up for SpaceWeather
PHONE. QUIETING SUN:
The slow decay of sunspot 960 continues, and it now poses no threat
for strong solar flares or radiation storms. Spacewalking
astronauts have nothing to fear from the quieting sun.
TWO SPACESHIPS: "After
a day of playing cat and mouse, Atlantis has finally docked with
the International Space Station," says Frank
Ryan Jr. who photographed the pair flying over Shannon, Ireland,
last night:
Rivaling Venus in brightness, Atlantis and the ISS are easy to
see through backyard telescopes. (The trick is knowing when
to look.) Ryan captured his image using a 5-inch Meade ETX-125
telescope and a digital webcam. "I stacked 30 good frames and
processed them in Registax. The results really surprised me!"
more images: from
Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands; from
David Campbell of Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK; from
Rudolf Dobesberger of Neuzeug Austria
BLUE PLANETS: Winds of 30
to 40 mph were swirling around DeSoto, Kansas, last week when photographer
Doug Zubenel "stepped
outside to enjoy the windy black night. Immediately, I noticed a
blue corona around Venus," he says: image.
Next, he turned his telescope toward Jupiter, and it was blue,
too:
"Three of Jupiter's largest moons are lined up
next to Jupiter at the 8 o'clock postion," notes Zubenel.
Why was everything blue? Atmospheric optics expert
Les Cowley measured the diameter of the corona and concluded that
"it was caused by dust particles about 38 micron (1.5/1000")
across. Coronas are mostly created by diffraction
around the rims of small particles. It hardly matters whether the
particles are water drops, pollen,
stratospheric
dust or in this case dust raised by local high winds."
2007
Noctilucent Photo Gallery
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