The Lyrid Meteor Shower

What's up in space

Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio.   LYRID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend on the night of April 21-22 when Earth passes through a stream of debris from ancient Comet Thatcher. Usually the shower is mild (10-20 meteors per hour) but unmapped filaments of dust in the comet's tail sometimes trigger outbursts ten times stronger. This year's peak coincides with a new Moon, which has prompted NASA to attempt an unusual 3D meteor photography experiment. Browse the links for more information: observing tips, meteor radar, NASA chat, 3D meteors, Lyrid video. RUBBER CHICKEN FLIES INTO SOLAR STORM: In a unusual twist on space science, students in California have launched a rubber chicken to the edge of space to study a solar storm. Get the full story from Science@NASA. INCOMING PLASMA CLOUDS: On April 18th and 19th, a series of minor CMEs puffed away from the sun. Three of them are heading in our general direction. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have prepared an animated forecast track of the ensemble: According to the forecast, the clouds are going to hit Mercury, Earth, Mars and rover Curiosity en route to Mars. The impact on our planet, on April 22nd around 00:50 UT, is expected to be minor with auroras likely only at higher latitudes. Aurora alerts: text, voice. ARCTIC AURORA RECAP: As the midnight sun returns to the Arctic, northern sky watchers are looking back on the 2011-2012 aurora season with pleasure. "There has definitely been increased activity this season as the solar cycle heads toward a maximum in 2013," says photographer Ole C. Salomonsen. "To commemorate the season I have assembled a video from photos I took in northern parts of Norway, Finland and Sweden from fall 2011 to spring 2012." Click to play: . "This video marks the end of a very exciting aurora season for me," says Salomonsen. "It has made me very excited for the upcoming season (autumn 2012), and what it has to offer in terms of celestial lights and experiences!" This doesn't mean that auroras are gone for everyone. The Arctic Circle may be brightening with summer sunlight, but lower latitudes still have enough darkness for Northern Lights. Indeed, upper-middle latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on April 20th. NOAA forcasters estimate a 35% chance of geomagnetic activity as Earth enters a region of negative polarity IMF.   Near Earth Asteroids Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time. On April 21, 2012 there were 1287 potentially hazardous asteroids. Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Mag. Size 2012 GW11 Apr 18 4.9 LD -- 24 m 1996 SK Apr 18 67.2 LD -- 1.6 km 2007 HV4 Apr 19 4.8 LD -- 8 m 2012 GP1 Apr 21 9 LD -- 26 m 2012 HN1 Apr 21 5.2 LD -- 18 m 2012 HE Apr 22 6.9 LD -- 32 m 2012 HQ Apr 24 9.8 LD -- 42 m 2012 HM Apr 28 1.5 LD -- 68 m 2011 WV134 Apr 28 38.6 LD -- 1.6 km 1992 JD May 2 9.5 LD -- 43 m 2010 KK37 May 19 2.3 LD -- 31 m 4183 Cuno May 20 47.4 LD -- 5.7 km 2002 VX94 May 26 72.8 LD -- 1.1 km 2002 AC Jun 16 62.2 LD -- 1.2 km 1999 BJ8 Jun 16 68.8 LD -- 1.1 km 2005 GO21 Jun 21 17.1 LD -- 2.2 km Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.   Essential web links NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center   The official U.S. government space weather bureau Atmospheric Optics   The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. Solar Dynamics Observatory   Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. STEREO   3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory Solar and Heliospheric Observatory   Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. Daily Sunspot Summaries   from the NOAA Space Environment Center Heliophysics   the underlying science of space weather Trade Show Displays   more links...

Spectacular Explosion on the Sun

Mensaje marcado

Lunes, 16 de abril, 2012 4:21 P.M.

Space Weather News for April 16, 2012
http://spaceweather.com

SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION: On April 16th around 17:45 UT, magnetic fields curling over the sun's northeastern limb rose up and erupted, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years.  The event, which also produced an M1.7-class solar flare and a coronal mass ejection, was not Earth-directed. Nevertheless, it confirms suspicions that a significant active region is rotating onto the  Earth-side of the sun. Visit http://spaceweather.com for movies and updates.

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Venus invade a las Pléyades

Venus invade a las Pléyades

2 de abril de 2012: Si ve a las Siete Hermanas, eso significa que Venus está llegando.


Esta semana, el segundo planeta (visto desde el Sol) pasará directamente frente al cúmulo de estrellas denominadas Pléyades. Se trata de una rara conjunción que tiene lugar al atardecer y que es fácil de encontrar a simple vista, pero que se aprecia mejor a través de los binoculares o de un pequeño telescopio.

Venus se acerca a las Pléyades, el 31 de marzo, y es fotografiado por el profesor de astronomía Jimmy Westlake, de Stagecoach, Colorado.

La acción comenzará al atardecer del lunes 2 de abril, cuando Venus ingrese a las inmediaciones del pequeño asterismo con forma de cucharón. Cuando se ponga el Sol, mire hacia el Oeste y encontrará a Venus (luego, examine el área utilizando los binoculares). La conjunción se podrá observar de inmediato. El mejor momento para verla es durante la noche del martes 3 de abril, cuando el brillante planeta se deslice hacia el sur del tazón del cucharón. Venus saldrá sobre la parte del asa del cucharón, el miércoles 4 de abril. El planeta pasa a través de las Pléyades de esta manera aproximadamente una vez cada 8 años.
Decir que esta es una mezcla de cosas incomparable sería una descripción insuficiente.
Las Pléyades son escurridizas. Raramente, se las puede hallar a propósito. Es posible verlas mejor con el rabillo del ojo; son una sorpresa de tamaño bastante pequeño, que surge desde el cielo nocturno cuando uno está mirando hacia cualquier otro lado.

Haga clic aquí para ver un mapa del cielo, donde aparece la conjunción.

Venus es exactamente el opuesto. Deslumbrante, lo suficientemente brilloso como para proyectar tenues sombras. Envía luz desde el cielo y nos atrapa cuando ni siquiera estamos observando.
Las Pléyades, también conocidas como las "Siete Hermanas", son un cúmulo de estrellas jóvenes. Se formaron hace apenas 100 millones de años, durante la época de los dinosaurios en la Tierra. Nacieron a partir de una nube de gas interestelar que colapsó. Las más grandes y más brillantes son de color azul y blanco y son aproximadamente cinco veces más anchas que nuestro propio Sol.
Debido a la distancia en que se encuentran (alrededor de 400 años luz de la Tierra), las Pléyades están cerca del límite de la visibilidad del ojo humano. Cuando Venus se una a ellas en la conjunción, se verá como si una supernova hubiera explotado en el cúmulo. Las espesas nubes de Venus reflejan tanta luz solar que el planeta eclipsa todo en el cielo nocturno, excepto a la Luna. Sin embargo, resulta extraño que las Pléyades no se vean endebles en comparación; simplemente resultan delicadamente hermosas.


Mire hacia el Oeste justo después del atardecer, y compruébelo usted mismo. Créditos y ContactosAutor: Dr. Tony Phillips
Funcionaria Responsable de NASA: Ruth Netting
Editor de Producción: Dr. Tony Phillips Traducción al Español: Angela Atadía de Borghetti
Editora en Español: Angela Atadía de Borghetti
Formato: Juan Claudio Toledo Roy Más información
Mapa del cielo --Science@NASA

Venus Invades the Pleiades

Venus Invades the Pleiades

April 2, 2012:  Watch out Seven Sisters, Venus is coming.
This week the second planet from the sun will pass directly in front of the Pleiades star cluster. It's a rare sunset conjunction that's easy to find with the unaided eye, but best seen through binoculars or a small telescope.

Venus approaching the Pleiades on March 31st, photographed by astronomy professor Jimmy Westlake of Stagecoach, Colorado.

The action begins on Monday evening, April 2nd, when Venus enters the outskirts of the little dipper-shaped asterism. Look west at sunset for Venus--it's the brightest thing around--then scan the area using binoculars. The conjunction will be immediately clear. The best evening to look is Tuesday, April 3rd, when the brilliant planet glides just south of the dipper's bowl. Venus exits by the handle on Wednesday, April 4th.  Venus passes through the Pleiades in this way about once every 8 years.
To say this is a mixture of dissimilar things would be an understatement.

Click to view a sky map of the conjunction.

The Pleiades are elusive. You rarely find them on purpose. They're best seen out of the corner of your eye, a pretty little surprise that pops out of the night sky when you're staring elsewhere.
Venus is just the opposite. Dazzling, bright enough to cast faint shadows, it beams down from the heavens and grabs you when you're not even looking.
The Pleiades, also known as the "Seven Sisters," are a cluster of young stars. They formed barely 100 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs on Earth from a collapsing cloud of interstellar gas. The biggest and brightest members are blue-white and about five times wider than our own sun.
Because of their distance, about 400 light years away, the Pleiades are near the limit of naked-eye visibility. When Venus joins them in conjunction, it will look like a supernova has gone off inside the cluster. Venus's thick clouds reflect so much sunlight, the planet outshines every thing in the night sky except the Moon. Strangely, though, the Pleiades do not look puny in comparison, just delicately beautiful.
Look west just after sunset, and see for yourself.

Author:Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

Getting to Know the Goldilocks Planet

Getting to Know the Goldilocks Planet

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March 29, 2012: NASA's Kepler spacecraft is discovering a veritable avalanche of alien worlds.  Recent finds include planets with double suns, massive "super-Earths" and "hot Jupiters," and a miniature solar system.  The variety of planets circling distant suns is as wonderful as it is surprising.
As the numbers mount, it seems to be just a matter of time before Kepler finds what astronomers are really looking for:  an Earth-like planet orbiting its star in the "Goldilocks zone"—that is, at just the right distance for liquid water and life.
"I believe Kepler will find a 'Goldilocks planet' within the next two years," says Shawn Domagal-Goldman, a researcher at NASA HQ who specializes in exoplanet biology. "We'll be able to point at a specific star in the night sky and say 'There it is—a planet that could support life!'"

A ScienceCast video explores the challenges of studying faraway 'Goldilocks planets.' Play it!

Kepler has already located a few Earth-sized planets, but they are too close for comfort to their parent stars.  These recent finds have heightened the sense that a big discovery is just around the corner. 
But finding a Goldilocks planet is just the first step.  Getting to know it is much more difficult.
The problem is that, in the cosmic scheme of things, Earth-sized planets are relatively small, and the ones Kepler is finding are staggeringly far away.  Most are hundreds, or even thousands, of light years away from Earth.  Almost completely hidden by the glare of their parent stars, these distant pinpricks are very difficult to study.
Fortunately, NASA has a plan.

Light reflected from a planet carries the 'fingerprint' of its atmospheric composition.

"The reflected light of an exoplanet tells its story," explains Kepler Program Scientist Doug Hudgins, also at NASA HQ. "To get at that story and learn about the planet's atmosphere and composition, we can use a technique called transit spectroscopy."
The basic idea is simple:  When a planet reflects the light of its parent star, the atmosphere of the planet leaves a subtle imprint on the reflection--a sort of spectral "fingerprint" that astronomers can study to learn what the planet's atmosphere is made of.
One new mission under consideration by NASA, named FINESSE, is a fingerprint specialist.  Short for "Fast INfrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer,"  FINESSE would measure the spectra of stars and their planets in two situations: once when the planet is in view, and again when the planet is hiding out behind its star.  In this way, FINESSE can separate the planet's dim light from the stellar glare and reveal the composition of the planet's atmosphere.
NASA is also considering an observatory named "TESS"--the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.  Supported in part by Google, the MIT-led mission is specifically designed to find exoplanets in the local galactic neighborhood.  TESS would study hundreds of stars within 50 light years of Earth, close enough to study in some detail.

"With better detectors and instruments designed to block the glare of the parent stars, these next-generation telescopes could not only find a Goldilocks planet, but also tell us what its atmosphere is made of, what sort of cloud cover graces its skies, and maybe even what the surface is like—whether oceans cover part of the globe, how much land there is, and so on," says Hudgins.
Domagal-Goldman expects big surprises:  "We've found so many unexpected things about planets that now I expect to be amazed. When we can study a Goldilocks planet, I believe we'll discover something revolutionary about how life interacts with a planetary environment. Nature is so much more diverse than we anticipated."
"The possibilities," he believes, "are limitless."

Authors: Dauna Coulter, Dr. Tony Phillips| Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

The Return of Active Sunspot AR1429

		Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012
	What's up in space

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.   IS IT SNOWING MICROBES ON ENCELADUS? As NASA's Cassini spacecraft completes its deepest-ever pass through the plumes of Enceladus, researchers are wondering if it might be snowing microbes there. The idea is not so far-fetched as evidence mounts for a "uniquely accessible" habitable zone on Saturn's icy moon. [full story] RETURN OF THE SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR1429, the source of many strong flares and geomagnetic storms earlier this month, is about to re-appear following a two-week trip around the backside of the sun. Magnetic loops towering over the sun's NE limb herald the sunspot's approach: Earlier today, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed plumes of plasma rising and falling over the limb: movie. Moreover, a pair of solar flares (C5- and C7-class) in the sunspot's towering magnetic canopy caused waves of ionization to ripple through the high atmosphere over Europe. These events suggest the region is still active. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: text, phone. AURORA SURPRISE: No one predicted this: On March 27th, Northern Lights descended all the way south to Nebraska. Click to view a movie of the display, photographed by Chris Allington of Crofton, NE: "I certainly didn't expect to see anything, but the plots were interesting enough to get me out investigating the northern sky with my camera," says Allington. "Suprisingly, around 9:30pm local time I could see the color of auroras in the viewfinder, so I decided to head to a wind farm near my house. The display became much more vibrant and lasted nearly 4 hours from 10pm to 2am. It's not often that auroras are hardly in the forecast and we see them as far south as NEBRASKA! " What happened? The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) tipped south and opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the display. More high-latitude auroras are possible tonight. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic activity as the solar wind continues to blow. Aurora alerts: text, phone. more images: from Nenne Åman of Arjeplog Northern Sweden; from Randy Halverson of Kennebec, South Dakota; from Paul Martin of Ballintoy Harbour, Antrim coast, N.Ireland; from Claus Vogel of Pelly Crossing, Yukon; from David Done of Anzac, Alberta Canada; from Ray Mckenzie of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; from Dirk Obudzinski of Eagle Summit, Alaska; from Adrian Maricic of Loch Leven, Fife Scotland; from Mark Shaw of Dungiven, Northern Ireland; from Martin McKenna of Ballintoy Harbour, Co. Antrim Coast, N. Ireland; from Chris Allington of Crofton, Nebraska; February 2012 Aurora Gallery [previous Februaries: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]