| NEW SUNSPOT: A new sunspot may be emerging in the southeastern quadrant of the sun. Readers, if you have a solar telescope, take a look. Images: #1, #2. SPACE DEBRIS UPDATE: The piece of orbital space junk that buzzed the ISS on March 12th was bigger than originally reported. Initial reports quoted 0.35 inches; the correct size was 5 inches. If the metal fragment had struck one of station's pressurized modules, the crew would have had only 10 minutes of air: full story. SKI HALOS: Friday the 13th was a lucky day at the Killington ski resort in Vermont. A bank of icy clouds drifted directly in front of the sun, producing a sun halo of such intense beauty, it stopped skiers in their tracks: 
"I was simply astounded!" says photographer Steven Benatar. "The amazing halo lasted for about 45 minutes. Thankfully I had my handy Canon SD780 to snap some quick pics as evidence." Benatar says he's seen pictures of sun halos before on the internet, but "they are much better in person!" more images: from Alex Conu of Clinceni, Romania; from Jim Saueressig of Emporia, Kansas; from Lois Reinert of Tracy, Minnesota TITAN TRANSIT: On March 12th, Saturn's giant moon Titan cast its shadow on the ringed planet's cloudtops. In the Phillipines, astrophotographer Christopher Go was waiting and took this well-timed shot through his 11-inch Celestron: 
Click to view the movie
"Titan skimmed over Saturn's north pole with its shadow following behind," says Go. The ruddy disk of Titan is located just above the much darker shadow, he points out. "Also, I was also to capture the EZn white spot--a pale storm raging near Saturn's equator." To see it, play the movie.
UPDATED: Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter Telescope: review] [Comet Lulin finder chart]
March 2009 Aurora Gallery
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