Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift. |
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AURORA
WATCH: A CME expected to reach Earth
on April 4th is overdue. The cloud might have missed
or maybe it's running late. Mindful of a possible
impact, NOAA forecasters estimate a 15% chance of
polar geomagnetic storms on April 5th. Aurora
alerts: text,
phone.
With the arrival of Spring, Arctic
nights are growing shorter. "Soon, aurora season
will be coming to an end," says Norwegian photographer
Thorbjørn Riise Haagensen. "But it's not over
yet." Last night Haagensen photographed this
scene over Hillesøy, Norway:
"Beginning in the middle of May,
the midnight sun brings sunshine all night long,"
he says. "Already some daylight is visible
at the horizon at midnight. There is still enough
darkness, though, for the last dance of the auroras."
more images: from
Bob Conzemius of Grand Rapids, Minnesota; from
Gilles Boutin of Ivujivik Nunavik Canada; from
Frank Olsen of Blokken in Sortland, Norway;
from
Helge Mortensen of Kvaløya, Norway; from
Ole C. Salomonsen of Sommarøy, Tromsø, Norway;
from
Thilo Bubek of Tromsø, Norway;
HEAVENLY
DEJA VU: At first glance, the picture
below looks exactly like thousands of others taken
this week as Venus
passed through the Pleaides star cluster. Look
again. The date in the corner says "April 1972."
Richard Keen of Boulder, Colorado, took the picture
40 years ago:
Talk about deja vu!
"Thanks to its orbit, Venus'
appearance in the sky repeats itself almost exactly
every 8 years," explains Keen. "Forty
years ago, on April 2, 1972, Venus passed by the
Pleiades only half a degree from its position two
days ago. It's fun to compare this photo I took
back in 1972 with this week's wonderful images."
Venus is exiting the Pleiades now,
but as Keen's snapshot shows, there will
be a next time--eight years from now to be exact.
The next Venus-Pleaides conjunction is due in April
2020. Until then....
more images: from
Miguel Claro of Fonte-de-Telha, Portugal; from
John Chumack of Mill Creek, Texas; from
Carl Bernhardt of Lone Pine, CA; from
Laurent Laveder of Pluguffan, Brittany, France;
from
Aissa Moussa Mohammed of Guerrara, Ghardaia,
Algeria; from
Kosma Coronaios of Louis Trichardt, Limpopo
Province, South Africa; from
Göran Strand of Frösön, Sweden; from
Alan C Tough of Elgin, Moray, Scotland; from
Vesa Vauhkonen of Rautalampi, Finland; from
Viktor Veres of Budapest, Hungary; from
Andy Dodson of New Plymouth, New Zealand; from
Amirreza Kamkar of Qayen-Iran
