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NEW-CYCLE SUNSPOT:
It's not big, but it is significant. Emerging
sunspot 1010 is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. This small but
growing active region is the latest in a series of new-cycle
spots that began popping
up on the sun about four months ago. Solar activity is still
low, but we appear to be leaving solar minimum behind and beginning
the slow ascent to Solar Max in 2011-2013.
PERIGEE MOON SHADOWS:
The brightest full Moon of the year is casting
the darkest Moon-shadows. "I went out tonight to take a picture
of the moonrise," says Jonathan
Sabin of Ellenton, Florida. "I couldn't help noticing just
how dark the shadows were." He faced away from the light, directed
his camera (a Nikon
D300) at the ground, and snapped this self-portrait:
This weekend's full Moon is a perigee
Moon, as much as 50,000 km closer to Earth and 30% brighter
than usual. All around the world, people were amazed by the shadows--but
even more amazed by the light source itself. Browse the links below
to see what was shining behind Sabin's back.
more images: from
Anton Balatskiy of Port Provideniya, Chukotka, Russia; from
Doug Zubenel of Johnson County, Kansas; from
David Ewoldt of Okarche, Oklahoma; from
Terry Tedor of North Pole, Alaska; from
Antoine Gerhardt of Nice, France; from
Herfried Eisler of Strasbourg, France; from
David Dickinson of Hudson, Florida; from
Charles Beanland of Gibraltar, Europe; from
Mariano Ribas of Buenos Aires, Argentina; from
Keith Breazeal of Amador County, California; from
Tamas Ladanyi of Kabhegy, Hungary; from
Robbie Merrill of Mesa, Arizona; from
Till Credner of Bad Urach, Germany; from
Riccardo Di Nasso of Pisa, Italy; from
Bryan Murahashi of San Jose, California; from
Jim Saueressig of Burlington, Kansas; from
Ginger Mayfield of Divide, Colorado; from
K. Raghunathan of Chennai, India; from
Bader Eddine Hamdi of Debila, Eloued, Algeria; from
Vincent Jacques of Breil-sur-Roya, France; from
Mahdi Zamani of Tehran, Iran; from
Jens Hackmann of Weikersheim, Germany; from
Frederic Hore of Montreal, Quebec;
BONUS: Today's
edition of Space Weather
Radio highlights a pack of Siberian Huskies howling at the perigee
Moon..
ALPINE SUBSUNS:
The next time you go skiing, look out for bright lights floating
in the air around you. Really. "I saw several of them while
riding the lifts in Aspen on Jan. 3rd," reports photographer
Thomas O'Brien. "I decided to hike around the mountain for
a better view and I found a really bright one. It was incredibly
hard to photograph--like shooting directly into two suns at once."
This was the view through his Canon
5D:
"It is exactly like shooting into two suns at once,"
says atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley, "because it is a
subsun, a direct
reflection of the sun by millions of ice crystals acting as mirrors.
The crystals are flat
plates drifting in the cold air. Subsuns can be blindingly bright,
look for them while skiing or when flying."
more images: from
Thomas O'Brien in Aspen, Colorado; from
Lukas Ronge on Snezka mountain in the Czech Republic
UPDATED: Jan.
2009 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Januaries: 2008,
2007, 2005,
2004, 2001]
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