NEW AND IMPROVED:
Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a field-tested
global satellite tracker. The Satellite
Flybys app now works in all countries. |
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AURORA WATCH:
A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field and
causing geomagnetic
activity around the Arctic Circle. High-latitude sky watchers
should be alert for auroras.
SPACE STATION MOVIE:
Last month, astronauts added a new room to the space station--a
cupola with seven windows and a breathtaking panoramic view.
Members of the crew say they enjoy spending their spare time
floating among
the glass looking at the Earth below. Last night, someone
on Earth was looking back. Dirk Ewers photographed the ISS
as it flew over his backyard in Hofgeismar, Germany. The cupola
is circled:
Click to launch a 3
MB movie (DivX required)
Ewers obtained the crystal-clear view using
only a 5-inch refracting telescope. "I was lucky to have
clear skies and good seeing," he says. For five minutes,
he tracked the bright spaceship across the sky and his
movie of the entire transit is a must-see.
This week the space station is making a series
of bright passes over Europe. Next week the apparitions shift
to North America. Check the Simple Satellite
Tracker or your iPhone
for flybys. You might just lock eyes with an astronaut.
more images: from
Martin McKenna of Maghera, Co. Derry, N. Ireland; from
Martin Popek of Nýdek, Czech republic; from
Martin Hahn of Dresden, Germany; from
James Burke of Sligo, Ireland; from
Pawel Warchal of Krakow, Poland; from
Enrico Finotto of Health of Livenza (VE) Italy
IDITAROD SKIES: This
week, hundreds of the world's finest athletes are racing 1,150+
miles across some of most extreme and beautiful terrain in
the world--the Iditarod trail of Alaska. If any of those
sled dogs raise their blue eyes to the sky, they might
see something like this:
Daryl Peterson took the picture on March 21,
2009. "I went to Nome last year to shoot the finish of
the Iditarod," he recalls. "During the race you
can almost bank on seeing some Northern Lights, even when
solar activity is low."
He's right. On average, March is the most geomagnetically
active month of the year; October is a close second (histogram).
The reason is not fully understood, but it has something to
do with the orientation of Earth's axes and the sun's magnetic
field around the time of the equinoxes. The Iditarod takes
place smack-dog in the middle of aurora
season.
Now, if only huskies could operate a camera....
March
Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Marches: 2009,
2008, 2007,
2006, 2005,
2004, 2003]
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