What's up in space |
GEOMAGNETIC
OUTLOOK: NOAA forecasters estimate
a 30% to 45% chance of strong geomagnetic storms
around the poles on March 28-29 in response to an
incoming solar wind stream. High-latitude sky watchers
should be alert for auroras. Aurora
alerts: text,
phone.
ATREX
EXPERIMENT LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT SKY:
Before sunrise on March 27th, sky watchers up and
down the eastern seaboard of the United States witnessed
a strange apparition. A quintet of milky-white plumes
appeared in the night sky, twisting in the winds
at the edge of space. "It was pretty unreal
and very exciting to see," says eye-witness
Jack Fusco, who sends this picture from Seaside
Park in New Jersey:
The plumes were chemical tracers
(trimethyl
aluminum) deposited in the upper reaches of
Earth's atmosphere by five rockets launched rapid-fire
from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The goal of the experiment, named ATREX
(Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment), is to study
3D turbulence in the thermosphere.
"We saw the rockets lift off
and then slowly release their chemicals, creating
trails in the sky," reports
Alice B. of Loudoun County, Virginia. "We could
also see what I assume were the rocket remnants
falling back to Earth."
"Once the chemical tracers from
the rockets were released, the view was amazing,"
adds
Bryan Lauber of Frenchtown, NJ. "The tracers
were extremely bright and seemed to just fall out
of the sky!"
more images: from
Jeff Berkes of West Chester, PA; from
Mark A. Brown of Carlisle, PA; from
Robert T. Smith of Stoneville, NC; from
Rich McPeters near Annapolis, Maryland; from
Cliff Baldwin of Aquebogue, NY
ANOTHER
CME FROM SUNSPOT AR1429: Transiting
the farside of the sun, never-say-die sunspot AR1429
erupted during the late hours of March 26th, producing
its 11th major CME. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
(SOHO) photographed the cloud flying over the sun's
eastern limb:
According to a forecast
track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space
Weather Lab, the CME will hit two spacecraft, STEREO-B
and Spitzer, on March 28th. Earth is not in the
line of fire.
This event shows that AR1429, the
source of several strong
geomagnetic storms in early March, is still
active. It will begin turning back toward our planet
about a week from now. Stay tuned.
ROBOT
SPACESHIP CHASES ISS: Europe's
robotic supply ship, the Edoardo
Amaldi (ATV-3),
is chasing the International Space Station (ISS)
around Earth. Marco Langbroek saw it at daybreak
on March 24th flying over the rooftops of his neighborhood
in Leiden, the Netherlands:
"The ATV-3 was very bright and
easily visible to the naked-eye, nothwithstanding
the bright twilight (the sun was less than 7o
below the horizon)," says Langbroek. "It
was about magnitude 0 to -1.5, and somewhat orange
in color. A video of the flyby may be found here."
Launched on March 23rd laden with
almost 7000 lb of supplies, the cargo carrier is
expected to dock with the ISS on March 28th. As
the two spacecraft converge, it might be possible
to see them both in the sky at once. Check SpaceWeather.com's
Simple Satellite Tracker or
your cell phone
to see if you are favored with a double flyby.
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