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SPACE STATION FLARES:
Lately, a growing number of observers are
reporting intense "flares" coming from the International
Space Station (ISS). A typical sighting begins with a normal, sedate
flyby: The station soars overhead, cutting silently through the
stars with no hint that something extraordinary is about to happen.
Then, a startling explosion of light boosts the station's luminosity
10-fold or more. Some observers have witnessed flares of magnitude
-8 or twenty-five times brighter than Venus.
On May 22nd, Dutch amateur astronomer Quintus Oostendorp watched
a flare through his backyard telescope. A movie he recorded using
his Canon
1000D shows what happened:
Click to view a 0.7 MB Quicktime movie
The bright flash is sunlight glinting off the station's enormous
solar arrays. Earlier this year, on March 20th, astronauts unfurled
a new pair of arrays on the space station's starboard side, adding
8000 sq. feet of light-catching surface area to the station's profile.
The extra area increases both the chances and the luminosity of
flares. "It is a spectacular sight!" says Oostendorp.
No one knows when they will happen or how bright they will be.
That's what makes the hunt for "space station flares"
so much fun. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker
for flyby times--and let the hunt begin!
more flares: from
Rafael Schmall of Hungary, Somogy, Kaposfo; from
Kevin Kell of Yarker, Ontario, Canada; from
Martin Gembec of Litice nad Orlici, Czech Republic; from
Nicolas Biver of Versailles, France
SUNSET MOON:
When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. You
might see something like this:
Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland, took the picture last night using
a Nikon
D700. "The Moon was only 31 hours past new," he says.
"It was a lovely crescent!"
Only one day older and a few percent wider, the crescent Moon will
be back again this evening. Browse the photos for a preview:
moon shots: from
Andrew Dallow of Darfield, New Zealand; from
Marcin Grzybowski of Poland; from
Luca Basili of Rome, Italy; from
Tamas Ladanyi in the Bakony mountains of Hungary; from
Janie Shur and J. Stetson of Sebago Lake, Maine; from
Gonzalo Vargas of Cochabamba, Bolivia; from
Catalin M. Timosca of Turda, Romania; from
Ugur Ikizler of Mudanya, Turkey; from
Ramon Lane of Torrevieja, Spain; from
Abraham Tamas of Zsámbék, Hungary; from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from
Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from
Stefano De Rosa of Turin, Italy; from
Joseph M. Golebieski of Toms River, New Jersey; from
Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia;
April
2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2008,
2007, 2006,
2005, 2004,
2003, 2002]
Explore
the Sunspot Cycle
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