They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store. | | |
JUPITER AT OPPOSITION: Tonight Jupiter is at opposition, opposite the sun as seen from Earth. This means the giant planet will be up all night, rising in the east at sunset and soaring overhead at midnight. Jupiter at opposition shines ~36 times brighter than a 1st magnitude star, so it's easy to find. Get out your telescope for an unusually good view of the planet's belts, storms, and moons.
CALIFORNIA ROCKET LAUNCH: This rocket is no longer on Earth:
Photographed by Ben Cooper at sunset on Thursday, Oct. 27th, the Delta 2 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday morning at 2:48 am PDT carrying NASA's new NPP Earth-observing satellite. According to agency officials, the satellite is now in orbit, fully-powered with solar arrays extended, and is communicating with mission control. NPP's five scientific instrument packages will gather data for studies of long-term climate change and also improve short-term weather prediction.
En route to orbit, the rocket split the night sky over California and was visible more than 265 miles from the launch site. Browse the links for launch photos: from Dennis Mammana of Borrego Springs, California; from Anthony Galvan II of Goleta, California; from Chas Robinson of Pine Mountain Club; from Richard Glenn of Sun City, CA; from Brian Karczewski of Lake Elsinore, CA; from Bob Northup of Studio City CA
UPDATE: As the sun started to come up over California, the rocket's lingering exhaust caught the sunlight and was visible over a wide area. "It was similar in appearance to noctilucent clouds," reports Carlos Irizarry of South Park, San Diego. "What a nice way to start the day!" Exhaust photos: from Fawn Rigali of Ventura, California; from Carlos Irizarry of South Park, San Diego
48 HOURS LATER: People in the United States are still talking about the spooky red auroras ignited by a CME on Oct. 24th; Northern Lights were sighted as far south as Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. 48 hours later, the show was over in the USA, but not in Scandinaviia where residual auroras continued to flicker around the Arctic Circle. Norwegian photographer Ole C. Salomonsen took this picture on Oct. 26th:
"I was out shooting the Milky Way when I got a nice surprise," says Salomonsen. "These amazing auroras were still dancing over Tromsø. Several meteors cut across the sky during the photo-shoot, so I was able to capture a fireball, the Northern Lights and the Milky Way in a single exposure!"
More photo-ops are in the offing. The sun is waking up from one of the deepest solar minima in a century, and the solar cycle seems to be rapidly gaining strength. Forecasters expect a new "Solar Max" in 2012-2013 with plenty of aurora storms between now and then. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
more 48-hour shots: from Einar Halvorsrud of Alta, Norway; from Göran Strand of Frösön, Sweden
UPDATED: October 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Octobers: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]
