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NEW SUNSPOT:
Breaking a string of 25 consecutive spotless days, a new sunspot
is forming near the sun's northwestern limb. The magnetic polarity
of the spot identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Readers,
if you have a solar
telescope, now is the time to watch sunspot genesis in action.
images: from
Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from
Jan Timmermans of Valkenswaard, The Netherlands
VENUS & THE MOON:
Set your alarm for dawn. Just before sunrise
on Wednesday morning, April 22nd, Venus and the crescent Moon will
have a spectacular close encounter in the
eastern sky. Artist Mark Seibold of Portland, Oregon, is looking
forward to the view so much, he couldn't wait to draw it:
In his pastel sketch, both Venus and the Moon are portrayed as
crescents. That's not artistic licence. Both worlds have phases
and on Wednesday morning both will have a crescent shape. Use binoculars
or a small telescope to resolve the tiny arc of Venus.
For sky watchers in western parts of North America, the Moon will
completely eclipse Venus. The event begins just after 5 a.m. Pacific
Daylight Time and lasts for more than an hour. Local details may
be found here.
LYRID METEOR SHOWER:
The annual Lyrid
meteor shower is underway. "I saw two bright Lyrids last
night," reports Marsha Adams of Sedona, Arizona."They
seem to start out orange and finish green." She caught this
one using a Nikon
D200:
Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 22nd with 10 to
20 meteors per hour over the northern hemisphere. The best time
to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Wednesday morning.
Got clouds? No problem. If you can't see the shower, you can listen
to it on Space Weather Radio.
We are streaming live signals from the Air Force Space Surveillance
Radar in Texas. Whenever a meteor passes overhead--ping!--there
is an echo. The Lyrids should produce a surge of audio activity.
more images: from
Roman Piffl of Bratislava, Slovakia; from
Jens Hackmann of Bad Mergentheim, Germany; from
Brian Emfinger of Ozark, Arkansas; from
Quentin D. of le Havre, Normandy, France
April
2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2008,
2007, 2006,
2005, 2004,
2003, 2002]
Explore
the Sunspot Cycle
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