Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that
star? Get the answers from mySKY--a
fun new astronomy helper from Meade. THE
WORLD AT NIGHT: "I'm pleased to announce
a new web site, The
World Night At Night," says Iranian photographer and science
journalist Babak
A. Tafreshi. "It is a photo-collection of the world's most
beautiful and historic sites against the nighttime backdrop of stars,
planets and celestial events. The eternally peaceful sky looks the
same above all nations, attesting to the truly unified nature of
Earth as a planet rather than an amalgam of human-drawn territories."
The site's
galleries are a Christmas treat.
SOLAR ACTIVITY:
Sometimes the best solar activity is a sunrise. Consider this one
photographed by Xiaowen Yang
of Beidaihe Qinghuangdao, China, on Dec. 23rd:
The sun's strange shape is not a flaw in Yang's
camera; it's a mirage caused by a gradient in air temperature
above the water. Moments before this photo was taken, the spellbound
fisherman witnessed an even stranger
shape: the
omega sun once popularized by science fiction writer Jules Verne.
Click to browse the complete sunrise sequence: #1,
#2, #3,
#4.
Because the sun is so utterly blank and quiet--no sunspots!--sunrises
and sunsets are the only solar activity we're likely to see for
the rest of the week. A beach is the best place to look.
DIAMOND DUST:
Imagine tossing a handful of diamonds into the air and watching
them fall back to Earth, tumbling in the sunlight and glittering
with all the colors of the rainbow. That's essentially what happened
outside Ivar Marthinusen's
house in Skedsmokorset, Norway, on Dec. 21st:
Each colored speck in this picture is a mote of diamond
dust. "These are jewel-like crystals of ice flashing prismatic
colors," explains atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. Diamond
dust crystals
form on cold days in the air near ground level. "They are close
and we see the individual glints and can even wave our arms to stir
them about."
The truly wonderful thing about diamond dust crystals is that when
millions
of them get together, they can make spectacular halos around the
sun. Indeed, "some very
nice halos appeared on Dec. 21st," says Marthinusen. "For
a while the 22
degree, 46
degree, upper
tangent arc and sundogs
were all visible."
"The season of diamond dust is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere,"
adds Cowley. "So check the sky during the icy dawns and days
of the next few weeks!"
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