What's up in space

What's up in space

Metallic pictures of the Sun

QUIET NO MORE: The recent spell of low solar activity is over. Sunspots are popping up across the solar disk and one of them, growing sunspot 1226, is crackling with C- and M-class solar flares. So far none of the blasts has been geoeffective, but this could change as the active region turns toward Earth in the days ahead. Stay tuned.

GEOMAGNETIC STORMS: A stream of high-speed solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms around both of our planet's poles. At this time of year, the midnight sun interferes with the visibility of Northern Lights over Alaska and Scandinavia, but the situation is different on the other side of Earth. Southern Lights were on full display this morning in the dark autumn skies of Queenstown, New Zealand:


"I actually missed the most intense part of the display," says photographer Minoru Yoneto. But as this 30-second exposure shows, "better late than never!"

High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras as the solar wind continues to blow. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% - 25% chance of geomagnetic storms in the next 24 hours. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

more images: from Dave Curtis of Dunedin, New Zealand; from Ian Stewart of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; from Zoltan Kenwell of East of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; from Tom Luttrell of Mount Nelson Signal Station, Hobart, Tasmania;

WARP SPEED! Space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station are making a series of bright flybys over North America and Europe this weekend. In Arizona, Mike Weasner pointed his 8-inch telescope at the docked spacecraft and this is what he saw:



"I attempted to video record the ISS and Endeavour, but my tracking was not very good, and most of the time the spacecraft were not in the camera's field of view," says Weasner. "However, this allowed me to record a little-known space station capability: One frame showed the ISS going to Warp Speed!"

"Of course, the effect is a result of motion blurring during the video exposure," he allows, "but it does make for an interesting photo."

This is space shuttle Endeavour's final flight, and the nights ahead offer a last chance to see the shuttle before it returns to Earth for retirement. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker or your cell phone for local flyby times.

more images: from Jesús Carmona de Argila of Madrid, Spain; from P.Nikolakakos of Sparta, Greece; from Roberto Zanola of Abbiategrasso, Milan, Italy; from Davide Cirioni of Abbiategrasso, Milan, Italy; from Kim Cheol-Joong of South Korea;

fonte:www.spaceweather.com