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Posts Tagged ‘planetary mechanics’

Aurora Alert and Open Thread

by coldwarrior ( 132 Comments › )
Filed under Academia, Astronomy, Open thread, saturday lecture series, Science at August 3rd, 2011 - 8:00 pm

I Filed this under Saturday Lecture Series

From today’s http://www.spaceweather.com/:

M6-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot 1261 unleashed another strong solar flare this morning–an M6-class flash at 1348 UT. Like yesterday’s eruption from the same active region, this explosion propelled a CME in the general direction of Earth. ETA: August 6th. Stay tuned for additional analysis..

INCOMING CLOUD: Yesterday’s M1-class eruption from sunspot 1261 was observed by three spacecraft: SOHO, STEREO-A and STEREO-B. Using data from those three points of view, analysts at the GSFC Space Weather Lab have made a 3-dimensional model of the CME now en route to Earth. Click on the image to launch a computer-generated movie of the expanding cloud:

Yes, i know the animation goes into the text on the right…Anyway. Below is the Animation from GSFC Space Weather Lab.:

 

According to their work, the CME left the sun traveling 900 km/s and should reach Earth (denoted by a yellow dot in the simulation) on August 5th at 0300 UT plus or minus 7 hours. Another cloud produced by today’s M-flare may be right behind it; stay tuned for movies of that one, too. Mild to moderate geomagnetic storms are possible when these CMEs arrive on August 5th and 6th. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

 

 

Predicted Aurora Activity:

Updated at: 2011 Aug 02 2200 UTC

Mid-latitudes

0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
40 %
MINOR
01 %
15 %
SEVERE
01 %
05 %

High latitudes

0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
40 %
MINOR
01 %
15 %
SEVERE
01 %
05 %

 

 

Right now, the kP Index is at 1, that’s low. Keep an eye on this page, if the number goes over 4-5 then there should be visible activity for some of us.

 

This is the current Statistical Auroral Oval, it updates as new info is added

 

 

Saturday Lecture Series: Noctilucent Clouds

by coldwarrior ( 31 Comments › )
Filed under Academia, Astronomy, Open thread, saturday lecture series, Science at June 4th, 2011 - 8:30 am

I have seen Noctilucent Clouds as far south as southern West Virginia.  They can be seen even farther south.

 

 

Noctilucent: Illuminated at night.

 

Every spring and early summer Noctilucent clouds are visible in the higher latitudes due to this phenomenon:

 

 

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS OVER EUROPE: The 2011 noctilucent cloud (NLC) season has begun. For the past few nights, observers across northern Europe have spotted velvety, electric-blue tendrils rippling across the sunset sky.

 

Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the Sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you’ve probably spotted a noctilucent cloud. Although noctilucent clouds appear most often at arctic latitudes, they have been sighted in recent years as far south as Colorado, Utah and Virginia. NLCs are seasonal, appearing most often in late spring and summer. In the northern hemisphere, the best time to look would be between mid-May and the end of August.

NASA is working to understand this phenomenon:

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite mission is exploring Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), also called noctilucent clouds, to find out why they form and why they are changing.

The AIM mission has been extended by NASA through the end of FY12. During this time the instruments will monitor noctilucent clouds to better understand their variability and possible connection to climate change. Individual instrument data collection status, as well as spacecraft and instrument health, will be monitored throughout the life of the mission and reported periodically on this website.

The primary goal of the AIM mission is to help scientists understand whether the clouds’ ephemeral nature, and their variation over time, is related to Earth’s changing climate – and to investigate why they form in the first place. By measuring the thermal, chemical and other properties of the environment in which the mysterious clouds form, the AIM mission will provide researchers with a foundation for the study of long-term variations in the mesosphere and its relationship to global climate change. In addition to measuring environmental conditions, the AIM mission will collect data on cloud abundance, how the clouds are distributed, and the size of particles within them.