AURORA ALERTS: Did you miss the Northern Lights of June 25th? Next time get a wake-up call from Space Weather PHONE. | | | NLCs IN THE USA: Already active in Europe and Canada, noctilucent clouds are now showing themselves over the USA. "Early yesterday morning, around 3:45 a.m. on July 8th, I happened to look out a north-facing window in my home and was startled to see a spectacular display of NLCs," reports Bill Bruner of Shoreline, Washington. In nearby Port Angeles, Rick Klawitter was watching, too, and he was able to photograph the electric-blue clouds. These and other recent sightings in Vermont, Wyoming and Michigan trace a pattern of intensifying activity over northern-tier US states. If you live in that band, be alert for NLCs in the nights ahead: observing tips. MARS ON THE MOVE: Put on your 3D glasses and behold ... a "moving rock" on Mars: Click to view the complete scene Graphic artist Patrick Vantunye of Belgium created the 3D anaglyph by combining right- and left-eye images from Phoenix's stereo camera. It shows a rock near the Mars lander's feet seemingly pushed some distance through the dusty soil. "It reminds me of the moving rocks of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley," says Vantuyne. Long held to be a mystery, those Death Valley rocks are now thought to travel by means of wind propulsion, skidding along a desert floor momentarily slick after rainstorms. What moved this Mars rock? Possibilities include Phoenix's landing thrusters, martian wind, a nudge from Phoenix's robotic arm, and of course the unknown. Solutions are welcomed. SEE JUPITER AT ITS BRIGHTEST: Jupiter reaches maximum brilliance this week, on July 9th, when it makes its closest approach to Earth for all of 2008. At sunset, look low and southeast for a beacon of light brighter than any star: finder chart. That is Jupiter, rising for an all-night transit across the southern sky. For the past few months, astronomers have been monitoring not one but three red spots on Jupiter: the familiar Great Red Spot plus two smaller upstarts known as Oval BA and the Little Red Spot (LRS). Last week the three storms collided. Amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley of Australia photographed their convergence: Click to view full-planet images On July 1st, with clouds blocking Wesley's view from Australia, the Little Red Spot (1) got squeezed like toothpaste between the Great Red Spot (2) and Oval BA (3). Did the little spot survive? A July 5th photo by Wesley seems to show only two storms emerging from the clash. But a July 7th photo taken by Christopher Go of the Philippines suggests "the LRS survived the gauntlet" and may be reforming. Survival wouldn't be a surprise. Even a "little" storm on Jupiter is huge. The LRS is about the size of Mars and may be able to withstand considerable abuse from larger siblings. The monitoring continues, so stay tuned for updates. more images: from Amir Kalbasi of Kohin, Qazvin, Iran; from Luis Carreira of Castelo de Vide, Portugal; from Zlatko Pasko of Stara Pazova, Serbia; from John Chumack near Murray, Kentucky 2008 Aurora Gallery [Aurora Alerts] [Night-sky Cameras] |