They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store. | | |
HORSESHOE ASTEROID DISCOVERED: Astronomers from the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland have found that recently-discovered asteroid 2010 SO16 has been following Earth around the Sun for more than 250,000 years. Relative to our planet, the asteroid describes a horseshoe-shaped path in space. Strange, but true!
AURORAS IN MOTION: So far, April has been a good month for Northern Lights. Almost every night, bright auroras have been dancing around the Arctic Circle--really dancing. Click on the arrow to view a 5 MB video of auroras in motion over Quebec's Lagrande river on April 7th:
To make the video, photographer Michel Tournay (pictured above) assembled more than 800 pictures taken with his Nikon D3s. "I especially like the moment where the aurora became very intense for a few seconds showing some smoke on the river," says Tourney. "Normally I would have edited out that part because the aurora was over exposed, but I wanted to show how the scenery got illuminated by it!"
More auroras are possible tonight. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of geomagnetic activity during the next 24 hours, when a solar wind stream is expected to buffet Earth's magnetic field. A coronal mass ejection (movie) detected by NASA's STEREO probes on April 9th could also reach Earth and contribute to a possible display on April 11th. Aurora alerts: voice, text.
April 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]
SOLAR NEPHELOCOCCYGIA: It's a noun. Nephelococcygia: The act of seeking and finding shapes in clouds. On April 10th in Selsey, UK, Pete Lawrence set up his solar telescope and performed nephelococcygia on the sun. "I think I found a fish," he says.
The fish-shaped form at the base of the image is a cloud of plasma held above the stellar surface by magnetic fields. It looks dark because it is cooler than the inferno below. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor this fishy form--and learn to pronounce nephelococcygia.
more images: from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from Luca Tesoro of Mercogliano, Avellino, Italy
April 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]