ANDROID FLYBYS: Our field-tested satellite tracker is now available for Android phones. Features: Global predictions and flyby alarms! Learn more. | | | SOUTH PACIFIC ECLIPSE: Yearning to visit the South Pacific? Now is the time to set sail. On July 11th, the Moon will pass directly in front off the sun, producing a total solar eclipse. The path of totality stretches across the south Pacific Ocean, making landfall in only a few places: Mangaia in the Cook Islands, Easter Island, and the southern tip of South America. Get the details from NASA. EMERGING ACTIVE REGION: An active region is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb. It appears to be the remains of old sunspot 1082, but unlike a genuine corpse, these remains are animated. The region is crackling with low-level solar flares. Click on the image to view a C-class eruption: movie formats: 0.6 MB mpeg; 0.5 MB iPad; 0.5 MB iPhone NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the movie around 2200 UT on July 8th. The blast produced not only an ultraviolet flash of light, but also a coronal mass ejection (CME). The cloud is not heading for Earth, however, so we will experience no effects from the event. Stay tuned for more flares and a better view as the active region turns toward our planet in the days ahead. Readers with solar telescopes, monitor the limb! more images: from Andreas Murner of Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany WHITE RAINBOW, GOOD OMEN: Waking up early on a foggy morning can have surprising rewards. Consider the tale of Artur T. Grodz of Elblag, Poland: "July 4th was election day in Poland, and I woke up early to get to my polling station. I was pedalling my bike along the Vistula river when I witnessed an extraordinary white rainbow." Actually, it's a fogbow, caused by sunlight reflected from tiny droplets of fog hanging by the river's edge. They're often called "white rainbows" because of their rainbow-shape and pale colors, but rain is not involved. "As I was stood contemplating the phenomenon, I noticed the broad arc setting as the sun rose behind me," recalls Grodz. "The show was over! It was so beautiful, I took it as a good omen for my presidental candidate." (Indeed, it proved to be so, becase his candidate won.) Readers, to see your own white rainbow, follow these instructions: Wake up early, find some morning fog, face away from the low-hanging sun. Apparently, it's a lucky way to begin the day. May 2010 Aurora Gallery [previous Mays: 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002] [aurora alerts] |