Space Weather

[Jherrith]

A GREEN COMET APPROACHES EARTH:

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is approaching Earth. On Sept. 10th, it will be 0.39 AU (58 million km) from our planet and almost bright enough to see with the naked eye. Already it is an easy target for backyard telescopes. Last night, Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen, Austria, caught the 7.7th magnitude comet passing through star cluster Tombaugh 5 in the constellation Camelopardalis:

This comet is relatively small--its nucleus is barely more than a mile in diameter--but it is bright and active, and a frequent visitor to the inner solar system as it orbits the sun once every 6.6 years. On Sept. 10th, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner will not only be near Earth, but also at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun. Solar heating will make it shine like a star of 6th to 7th magnitude, just below the threshold of naked-eye visibility and well within range of common binoculars. Detailed sky maps will help you find it.

21P/Giacobini-Zinner is the parent of the annual Draconid meteor shower, a bursty display that typically peaks on Oct. 8th. Will the shower will be extra-good this year? Maybe. Draconid outbursts do tend to occur in years near the comet's close approach to the sun. However, not every close approach brings a meteor shower. Forecasters say there are no known Draconid debris streams squarely crossing Earth's path this year, so we will have to wait and see.

[thelufias]

Keep track of it.....  There are a ton of folks following it and many are posting on You Tube.  Space and You Tube go hand in hand...

[Jherrith]

RAPIDLY GROWING SUNSPOT:

 Two days ago, sunspot AR2720 didn't exist. Now it sprawls across the more than 75,000 km of the sun's surface and has two dark cores as wide as Earth. Thierry Legault photographed the growing sunspot group on Aug. 25th from the Saint-Véran/Astroqueyras observatory in the French Alps:

"Sunspot AR2720 has metamorphosed since yesterday and it is now as large as the Earth!" says Legault. "I photographed the region using a Celestron C14 EdgeHD telescope and an Astrosolar filter."

The magnetic canopy of AR2720 is crackling with B-class solar flares--minor explosions hardly befitting a sunspot of its size. This is what we expect during solar minimum when even large sunspots tend to be quiet. Quiescence is not, however, an absolute rule. Less than one year ago, another "solar minimum sunspot" about the size of this one unleashed an X-class solar flare and produced a radiation storm so strong that energetic particles reached the surface of the Earth.

[thelufias]

So very cool:

[Aelin]

A GREEN COMET APPROACHES EARTH:

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is approaching Earth. On Sept. 10th, it will be 0.39 AU (58 million km) from our planet and almost bright enough to see with the naked eye. Already it is an easy target for backyard telescopes. Last night, Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen, Austria, caught the 7.7th magnitude comet passing through star cluster Tombaugh 5 in the constellation Camelopardalis:

This comet is relatively small--its nucleus is barely more than a mile in diameter--but it is bright and active, and a frequent visitor to the inner solar system as it orbits the sun once every 6.6 years. On Sept. 10th, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner will not only be near Earth, but also at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun. Solar heating will make it shine like a star of 6th to 7th magnitude, just below the threshold of naked-eye visibility and well within range of common binoculars. Detailed sky maps will help you find it.

21P/Giacobini-Zinner is the parent of the annual Draconid meteor shower, a bursty display that typically peaks on Oct. 8th. Will the shower will be extra-good this year? Maybe. Draconid outbursts do tend to occur in years near the comet's close approach to the sun. However, not every close approach brings a meteor shower. Forecasters say there are no known Draconid debris streams squarely crossing Earth's path this year, so we will have to wait and see.

My first thought was "Camelopardalis that must be in South hemisphere". Then I discovered it's in our hemisphere  Yet, according it's position, I'm afraid it's just below the roof. That, more town lights (or clouds likes tonight), it's pretty impossible to see it I guess, but I'll try to keep an eye on.


Sure it's another way to discover Moon TL.

[Jherrith]

Here is the fun part who knew without looking it up what Camelopardalis referred to?

[Aelin]

Similar to the "chameau/camel" in a way, and nope, wasn't able without the wikipedia.

[Jherrith]

Actually "Giraffe"

[thelufias]

When I was a youngster I always wanted to be a Spaceman like Buck Rogers and wear a cool Spacesuit....

Then when I was in my early teens I wanted to be an Astronaut....especially after watching them land on the moon (LIVE).....In B&W LOL....

Well, Got one part of the wish almost accomplished....

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[sidherose]

Here is the fun part who knew without looking it up what Camelopardalis referred to?

Ummmm, I did. It sits between Cassiopeia (the 'sideways' M) and the Big Dipper.