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LABOR DAY BBQ: "What
better time for a solar bonfire than Labor Day weekend?" asks
Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York. "I was thrilled to see
this
tall prominence through my solar-filtered
backyard telescope. It's a very active burner showing rapid changes
over 30 minutes of observing. Happy Labor Day!"
more images: from
Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex; from
Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York; from
Erika Rix of Zanesville, Ohio
VOLCANIC SUNSETS:
Sky watchers across the USA and Europe are
reporting unusually colorful sunsets and sunrises. The cause appears
to be the August 7th eruption of the Kasatochi
volcano in Alaska. The volcano hurled a massive
cloud of ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere; high
winds have since carried the aerosols over parts of the USA and
Europe, producing widespread "volcanic sunsets."
"Last night, we had another beautiful sunset here in Nebraska,"
reports Jerry Chab of Falls City. "Long colorful sunrays appeared
and disappeared, reminding me of the Northern Lights."
Dramatic
rays
crossing the sky are a hallmark of volcanic sunsets, as are violet
domes and red
aureoles around Venus. When the sun goes down tonight, look
west. You may be in for a treat.
more images: from
Jeffrey Berkes at the Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland;
from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from
Tom Soetaert of Lawrence, Kansas; from
Karen Webb of Ridgecrest, California; from
Scott Sparrow of Pasadena, CA; from
David Smoyer of Truckee, CA; from
Martin Popek of Nýdek, Czech Republic; from
Kevin Jung of Ada, Michigan; from
Grover Schrayer of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania; from
Ron van Elst of the Netherlands ; from
Adam Kraft of Jackson, Mississippi, from
R.J. Waldman of Simi Valley, California; from
Jan Koeman of the Netherlands; from
Dick McGowan of Olathe, Kansas; from
Asti Bhatt of Ithaca, New York; from
Catalin M. Timosca of Turda, Romania; from
Tamas Ladanyi of Lake Balaton, Hungary;
OLD TRACKS: Mars
rover Opportunity is leaving
Victoria Crater, and it's exiting the way it came in. Put on your
3D
glasses and behold the new tracks beside the old:
Graphic artist Patrick
Vantuyne created the anaglyph by combining left- and right-eye
images from Opportunity's navigation camera.
"Making stereo images of Mars has become almost routine for
me, but it's still a thrill to see something new in 3D, which is
hardly visible in a single picture," says Vantuyne. As an example,
he notes the clouds in the upper-right corner of the anaglyph. Gaze
for a while into the sky and watch the fluff emerge: full-size
image.
August
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Science@NASA: Plasma
Bullets Spark Northern Lights]
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