Look to the north!

The BBC points to the possibility, given clear skies, of further displays of the Aurora Borealis being visible from Northern Ireland following a series of large solar flares – including a level X2.2 flare on the 15th, the most powerful since 2006.  But, as the Professor and a separate BBC report notes, there are some practical concerns. The China Meteorological Administration reported that the solar flare caused “sudden ionospheric disturbances” in the atmosphere above China and jammed short-wave radio communications in the …

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Blue sunset on Mars

Using a clip from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, which NASAtelevision has online, here’s a short seasonal treat from JPLnews.  Accelerating about 17 minutes of sunset on Nov. 4 and 5, 2010, into a 30 second simulation it’s the longest sunset movie from Mars ever produced.  There’s also a clip of Phobos partially eclipsing the Sun, if you follow the links…  Nasa press release here. Pete Baker

The spicules of Sol

Another wondrous view of our own modest star from the Solar Dynamics Observatory [SDO].  Here’s what the SDO channel says Spicules pop up from the Sun constantly. These dynamics jets are smaller features of the Sun that are commonly ignored. However, with the detailed close-up that SDO can provide, we can see these much more clearly than ever before. Over a few hours observation of the northern pole area of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light (Aug. 3, 2010), we can …

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Solar Dynamics Observatory: Interacting regions

More stunning footage from the Solar Dynamics Observatory [SDO]. From the SDO video summary Two pairs of active regions observed in extreme ultraviolet light show the dynamic magnetic interplay between them (Aug. 3-4, 2010). Energetic plasma is drawn to the magnetic field lines above active regions and forms the highly structured coronal loops. Connecting lines can also be seen reaching across between for the two widely separated active regions seen in profile to the left. Pete Baker

It’s Science Friday!

Here’s a short interesting video, with stunning images, on the solar weather under investigation with the help of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Pete Baker