| AURORA ALERT:
Did you sleep through the northern lights? Next time get a
wake-up call: Spaceweather
PHONE.
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NEW ENGLAND FIREBALL:
Last night, Dec. 29th at 9:30 p.m. EST,
sky watchers in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and
New Jersey witnessed a magnitude -9 fireball that exploded colorfully
in mid-flight. No one knows if fragments of the meteoroid reached
the ground. Readers, if you saw or photographed this event, please
submit a report.
Updated: Eye-witness
accounts
AURORA ALERT:
"The Northern Lights are coming," says Rob Stammes of
the Polar Light Center in Lofoten, Norway. He bases his prediction
on what is happening right now in the ground outside his magnetic
observatory. "Electrical currents are surging through the Earth.
Here is the recording from my ground current instrument.".
The cause of this activity is a solar wind stream hitting Earth.
The impact of the solar wind rattles Earth's magnetic field which,
in turn, induces
electrical currents in the ground. "This kind of ground current
surge normally precedes beautiful Northern Lights," notes Stammes.
High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras
tonight.
Dec.
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Decembers: 2007,
2006, 2005,
2001, 2000]
SUNSET PLANETS:
When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest.
The crecent Moon and Venus are beaming brightly through the sunset:
"I'm glad I finished work early today," says photographer
Alan C Tough of Elgin, Scotland. "It was a beautiful sight!"
The view improves tomorrow night when Venus and the Moon converge
for a New Year's Eve conjunction visible through thin clouds, city
lights and even fireworks. It's a nice way to end the year; don't
miss it! Sky maps: Dec.
30, 31.
more images: from
Babak Tafreshi of Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), Semnan
Province, Iran; from
Martin Adamovsky of Pilsen observatory, Czech Republic; from
Amir H. Abolfath of Tehran, Iran; from
Valentin Grigore of Targoviste, Romania; from
Albert Engert of Würzburg, BY, Germany; from
Chris Bushnall of Northampton, UK; from
Freddy Diaz of Cordova, Tennessee; from
Robbie Merrill of Mesa, Arizona; from
Jonathon Stone of Cullman, Alabama; from
Piotr Majewski of Torun, Poland; from
Tamas Ladanyi of Tes, Hungary; from
Peter and John Stetson of Portland, Maine;
Dec.
2008 Nacreous Cloud Gallery
[January 2008 Gallery]
[Nacreous
tutorial]
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