Archive for the ‘Sun – exploration’ Category

Unfortunatelly many places in northern hemisphere of our planet had bad weather and observers from these places could not see this beauty on the night sky. But there are places located above the clouds, especially those in high mountains, which had the perfect chance to watch this nice light theatre. One of these places is small country in central Europe – Slovakia. We are bringing you more nice photos.

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Skywatchers at high latitudes could be in for a spectacular treat of northern lights, the aurora borealis, Tuesday and Wednesday: After a relatively quiet stretch, it appears the sun is ramping up its activity. The sun’s surface erupted early Sunday, blasting  tons of plasma (ionized atoms) into space. These atoms are headed toward Earth and could create a stunning light show in the process.

“This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4th,” said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”

The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory , which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths. SDO was launched in February and peers deep into the layers of the sun, investigating the mysteries of its inner workings.

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The total solar eclipse of July 11, 2010 occurred over the southern Pacific Ocean. The eclipse was one of the most remote in recorded history. It was visible over much of the southern Pacific Ocean, touching several atolls in French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, and Argentina’s Patagonian plains.

Total eclipse began 700 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Tonga at approximately 18:15 UTC and reached Easter Island by 20:11 UTC. The global sky photography project The World At Night stationed photographers throughout the eclipse’s visibility track. Eclipse chasers photographed the event onboard a chartered airplane, cruise ships, numerous Pacific islands, and in Argentina’s Patagonia region. Totality was observed for four minutes and 41 seconds (4:41) on Easter Island, where it was observed for the first time in 1,400 years. Approximately 4,000 observers visited Easter Island for this eclipse, prompting an increase in security at its important moai archeological sites. The eclipse occurred at the same time that the final game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was being played in South Africa, and many soccer fans in Tahiti watched the match instead of observing the partial eclipse with a high percentage of obscuring the sun by about 98 percent. The path of totality of this eclipse barely missed some significant inhabited islands, including passing just about 20 km north of the northern end of Tahiti.

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UCLA atmospheric scientists have discovered a previously unknown basic mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth’s magnetosphere. The research, federally funded by the National Science Foundation, could improve the safety and reliability of spacecraft that operate in the upper atmosphere.

Image above: Tthe sun emits a stream of ionized particles called the solar wind that affects Earth and other planets in the solar system. (Credit: SOHO image composite by Steele Hill (NASA))

The sun, in addition to emitting radiation, emits a stream of ionized particles called the solar wind that affects the Earth and other planets in the solar system. The solar wind, which carries the particles from the sun’s magnetic field, known as the interplanetary magnetic field, takes about three or four days to reach the Earth. When the charged electrical particles approach the Earth, they carve out a highly magnetized region — the magnetosphere — which surrounds and protects the Earth.

Charged particles carry currents, which cause significant modifications in the Earth’s magnetosphere. This region is where communications spacecraft operate and where the energy releases in space known as substorms wreak havoc on satellites, power grids and communications systems.

The rate at which the solar wind transfers energy to the magnetosphere can vary widely, but what determines the rate of energy transfer is unclear.

The National Science Foundation has funded ground-based radars which send off radio waves that reflect off the ionosphere, allowing scientists to measure the speed at which the ions in the ionosphere are moving. The radar stations are based in Greenland and Alaska. The NSF recently built the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks.

Source: University of California

2010 January 15, an annular eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a 300-km-wide track that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon’s antumbral shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the Indian Ocean where the maximum duration of annularity reaches 11 min 08 s. The central path then continues into Asia through Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar), and China. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia.

More detailde information about this eclipse you can find here in our specialized section dedicated to this eclipse. Just continue here <<<
(Source: NASA)