Discovery
and the ISS are orbiting Earth. Would you like to see
them? Sign up for Spaceweather
PHONE.
QUIET
SUN: Solar
activity is extremely low. Only one tiny sunspot is visible,
active region 900, and it poses no threat for solar flares.
INFLATABLE
SATELLITE: On
July 12th, a Russian rocket blasted off with unusual cargo:
an inflatable satellite named Genesis I. Five hundred
kilometers above Earth, Genesis expanded
to full size (10 meters wide), and is now visible in the
night sky. On July 15th, Genesis cut across the starry
skies of Divide, Colorado, where Ginger
Mayfield took its picture:
"The
satellite was about as bright as a 2nd magnitude star--very
easy to see," says Mayfield.
Genesis
belongs to Bigelow
Aerospace, a private company with plans to deploy
a manned space station in Earth orbit. The station would
be assembled from inflatable modules. Genesis is a one-third
scale prototype; it will circle Earth for five years while
researchers study its performance and durability.
Would
you like to see Genesis? We can call
you when it's about to fly over your home town.
GOLDEN
GATE CORONA: When
looking for sun
coronas, stand in the shadows! Anything that blocks
the glare of the sun improves visibility. On July 13th,
Mila Zinkova
used the Golden Gate Bridge to block the sun, and here
is what she saw:
The
corona had a strangely 3-dimensional, nearby feel, reports
Zinkova. That's because the water droplets responsible
for the colorful rings were swirling in and out of the
bridge's great towers--not miles
high as usual. Conclusion: Shadows are good, but foggy
shadows are even better.
SPACE WEATHER
SPACE WEATHER
