AURORA ALERT: Did you miss the Northern Lights? In July they descended as far south as Nebraska. Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE. |  |
VANISHING MOONS: On the night of Sept. 2nd-3rd, for the first time in many years, the moons of Jupiter are going to disappear. At least that's how it will seem when Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto line up in front of and behind the giant planet. A casual look through a backyard telescope will show no moons at all. The 2-hour vanishing act begins at 9:43 p.m PDT. Jupiter is easy to find right beside the nearly full Moon. [sky map] [animation] [full story]
AURORA WATCH: On August 30th, a gust of solar wind hit Earth and sparked auroras so bright they were visible in arctic twilight. This is what the sky looked like over Tromso, Norway:
"What a pleasure to be outdoors on a late-summer evening with a warm breeze and the auroras dancing overhead," says photographer Kjetil Skogli. "I took the picture using a Canon 5D Mark II."
More auroras are in the offing. A solar wind stream is heading for Earth and it could spark a geomagnetic storm when it arrives on Sept. 3rd or 4th. Residents of Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Scandinavia should keep an eye on the sky in the nights ahead.
August 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Augusts: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001]
TWO SPACESHIPS: Space shuttle Discovery is docked to the International Space Station (ISS) and, thus joined, the two spaceships are putting on a good show in the night sky. Peter Rosén caught them flying over Stockholm, Sweden, just before sunrise on August 31st:
"The mission is getting a lot of media coverage here because of our Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang," says Rosén.
Yesterday, Fuglesang helped unload more than 15,000 lb (Earth weight) of supplies from Discovery's cargo bay. Much of that weight was laboratory equipment. Astronauts are outfitting the space station's science labs with a -80 degree research freezer; a rack of hardware to study crystals and semiconductors in low gravity; and a new set of tools for microgravity fluid physics experiments. NASA says this mission marks an important transition. The space station's "Under Construction" sign is coming down and its world-class science labs are ramping up.
That's worth a look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys.
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