| AURORA ALERTS:
Did you miss the Northern Lights of June 25th? Next time get
a wake-up call from Space
Weather PHONE. |
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NOCTILUCENT VERMONT:
So far this year, noctilucent clouds have
been sighted mainly over Europe, with a smattering over
Canada,
and none over the USA--make that almost none: "Last
night (6 July 2008) while flying from Chicago to Vermont, I observed
some noctilucent clouds about 300 miles west of Burlington,"
reports veteran sky watcher Jan Curtis. "It was a small patch
extending 10o to 15o above the horizon. Too
bad I couldn't get to my camera!" Readers living in northern-tier
US states, it is time to join the hunt for NLCs; observing tips
may be found in the photo gallery.
SEE JUPITER AT ITS
BRIGHTEST: Lately, have you noticed an unusually
bright light in the night sky? That would be Jupiter. On Wednesday,
July 9th, the king of planets makes its closest approach to Earth
for all of 2008, which means now is the time to see Jupiter at its
biggest and brightest. No sky
map is required; just look southeast after sunset for something
like this:
Photo details:
Canon
400D, 300 sec, ISO 1600
Greek amateur astronomer Tilemachos
Athanasiadis took the picture on July 5th. It shows Jupiter
and the Milky Way shining over the dark form of Mount Olympus, "the
throne of Zeus!" he points out.
If you have a backyard
telescope, point it at Jupiter. Even small department store
optics will show you rust-colored cloud belts, Jupiter's four largest
moons and, if you happen to look at the
right moment, the Great Red Spot, an anti-cyclone twice as wide
as Earth. Just a few days ago, the Great Red Spot ran over a cousin,
the Little Red Spot, and may have destroyed the smaller storm. Scroll
down for details.
more images: from
Luis Carreira of Castelo de Vide, Portugal; from
Jeffrey Berkes of Assateague Island, Maryland;
COLLIDING STORMS ON
JUPITER: For the past few months, astronomers
have been monitoring not one but three
red spots on Jupiter: the familiar Great Red Spot plus two younger,
smaller upstarts known as Oval BA and the Little Red Spot (LRS).
Last week the three storms collided. Amateur astronomer Anthony
Wesley of Australia photographed their convergence:
Click
to view full-planet images
On July 1st, with clouds blocking Wesley's view from Australia,
the Little Red Spot (1) got squeezed like toothpaste between the
Great Red Spot (2) and Oval BA (3). Did the little spot survive?
Maybe, maybe not. A July
5th photo by Wesley seems to show only two storms emerging from
the clash. But a July
7th photo taken by Christopher Go of the Philippines suggests
"the LRS survived the gauntlet" and may be reforming.
Survival wouldn't be a surprise. Even a "little" storm
on Jupiter is huge. The LRS is about the size of Mars and may be
able to withstand considerable abuse from its larger siblings. The
monitoring continues; stay tuned for updates.
2008
Aurora Gallery
[Aurora Alerts] [Night-sky
Cameras]
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