CORONAL HOLE (spaceweather.com)

CORONAL HOLE: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring a large coronal hole in the sun's northern hemisphere. Shown here in an extreme ultraviolet photo taken during the early hours of Dec. 11th, the UV-dark chasm overlies more than 500 billion square kilometers of solar terrain:

Coronal holes are places in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. A broad stream of solar wind flowing from this particular coronal hole should reach Earth on Dec. 15-17.

The last time a solar wind stream blew past Earth, on Dec. 7th, the impact sparked Northern Lights in the United States as far south as Montana and Michigan. A repeat performance could be in the offing. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras early next week.

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER

The Geminid meteor shower is ramping up, with the peak scheduled for the night of Dec. 13-14.

I will be monitoring on FM station 101.9 (KINK-FM, Portland) and plotting the number of  meteor "bounces" I receive between midnight and 8 a.m. each day.

(click image for larger version)

Strange Radio Emission Event on 20.1 Mhz

 

At 8:03 p.m. PST on Nov. 28 (0403 UTC Nov. 29), I happened to be recording my 20.1 Mhz reception, when this interesting event unfolded. I was also capturing the spectrum of the receiver at the time, so I have an interesting documentation of what seems to be a Jupiter L Burst.

I checked the Jupiter Radio Storm Prediction for this period, and this event occured at the end of a predicted A/Io-A event.

Did anyone else catch this, or has anyone ever heard this kind of burst before?

(Note the "residual" spectrum of the event fading off?)

 

Jim Tegerdine, Meadowcreek Park Observatory

Marysville, WA, USA

Moon Crossing

Watch as a Moon halo appears on the left, followed by the Moon as it crosses the sky above my location. This video covers the time from 1:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. Nov. 25.

QUIET SUN

After several weeks of high solar activity, the Sun has quieted down a bit.

(Image: Meadowcreek Park Observatory)

HOW BIG IS A SUNSPOT???

Measurements taken at Meadowcreek Park Observatory indicate that huge sunspot #1899 is over 33,000 miles in diameter! In comparison, Earth is 8,000 miles in diameter!!!

(click on image for larger version)

THE SUN: Nov. 19

Although this huge sunspot (#1899) looks powerful and menacing, it does not hold the potential for strong solar flares.

FM METEORS

These two plots show 2 meteors that were detected on my FM radio. It was tuned to 101.9 FM (KINK FM in Portland, OR). KINK is too far away for me to receive under normal conditions, but with an outdoor antenna pointed toward Portland and pointing upward at 30°, every once in a while when a meteor enters Earth's atmosphere between my location and Portland, the station will come in briefly.

The audio you hear is indicated by the spike on the left (plot).

COMET ISON: Nov. 16 (spaceweather.com)

COMET ISON UPDATE: Reports of naked-eye sightings of Comet ISON are coming in from around the world. Experienced observers put the comet's magntitude at +5.5 on Nov. 16th. This means it is now fully 10 times brighter than it was only three days ago before the outburst. To the naked eye, ISON appears as a faint smudge of pale green light low in the pre-dawn sky. The view through a telescope is more dramatic. The comet's tail has become a riotous crowd of gaseous streamers stretching more than 3.5 degrees across the sky. Amateur astronomer Waldemar Skorupa sends this picture from Kahler Asten, Germany:

 

 

The tail is so long, he couldn't fit the whole thing in the field of view. How long is it? Comet ISON's tail extends more than 8 million kilometers behind the comet's nucleus. For comparison, that's 21 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Because so much gas and dust is spewing from the comet's core, it is impossible to see clearly what caused Comet ISON's outburst on Nov. 13-14. One possibility is that fresh veins of ice are opening up in the comet's nucleus, vaporizing furiously as ISON approaches the sun. Another possibility is that the nucleus has completely fragmented.

"If so, it will still be several days before we know for sure," says Karl Battams, an astronomer with NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign. "When comet nuclei fall apart, it’s not like a shrapnel-laden explosion. Instead, the chunks slowly drift apart at slightly different speeds. Given that ISON’s nucleus is shrouded in such a tremendous volume of light-scattering dust and gas right now, it will be almost impossible to determine this for at least a few days and perhaps not until the comet reaches the field of view of NASA's STEREO HI-1A instrument on November 21, 2013. We will have to wait for the chunks to drift apart a sufficient distance, assuming they don't crumble first."

In short, no one knows for sure what is happening to Comet ISON. This could be the comet's death throes--or just the first of many brightening events the comet experiences as it plunges toward the sun for a close encounter on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28th).

Monitoring is encouraged. Comet ISON rises in the east just before the sun. Amateur astronomers, if you have a GOTO telescope, enter these coordinates. Dates of special interest include Nov. 17th and 18th when the comet will pass the bright star Spica, making ISON extra-easy to find. Sky maps: Nov. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.

CHANCE OF FLARES (spaceweather.com)

CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters have downgraded the chance of X-flares today to 15% as active sunspot AR1890 rotates off the Earthside of the sun. The chance of M-class flares, however, remains high at 60%. The likely source of any M-class eruption would be Earth-facing sunspot AR1897.

SUNSPOTS UPDATE: Nov. 11, 2013

Although sunspot region #1890 still holds the potential for strong flares, it is also beginning it's journey toward the western limb of the Sun, and any eruptions from that region will not be Earth-directed.

However, there are several more sunspots that have emerged from around the eastern limb. So far, these spots don't show evidence of strong flare activity, but who knows what the next few days will bring???

470.3125 Mhz and Solar Wind?

24-hour signal strength plot of 470.3125 Mhz.

Preliminary research seems to indicate that it correlates with the ACE Solar Wind Density Data for the same period.

470.3125 Mhz

This is a 1-minute audio segment, taken from a Uniden Bearcat hand-held scanner tuned to 470.3125 Mhz. It is part of a 2.5 hour period from 0800-1030 UTC on Nov. 9, 2013.
Included is my SpectrumLab plot as well as the Planetary K index for Nov. 9, 2013.
Can anyone tell me if this audio is a result of the aurora activity at that time? If not, what could I be picking up at that frequency? Thanks.

Jim Tegerdine
122W, 48N
jtegerdine@yahoo.com

ACTIVE REGION #1890 (spaceweatherlive.com)

This huge sunspot region (1890) actually consists of 59 individual sunspots. It is currently facing Earth and has been erupting with strong (but brief) solar flares. (click image for larger version)

BIG SUNSPOT FACES EARTH (spaceweather.com)

 

AR1890, one of the biggest sunspots of the current solar cycle, has turned almost directly toward Earth. This raises the possibility of geoeffective eruptions in the days ahead. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of M-class flares and a 10% chance of X-flares on Nov. 7th.

CHANCE OF FLARES (spaceweather.com)

CHANCE OF FLARES: Big sunspot AR1890 rotating over the sun's southeastern limb has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that habors energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of M-class solar flares and a 10% chance of X-flares on Nov. 4th.

SUNSPOTS: Nov. 3

Sunspot #1884 still holds the potential for powerful X-class flares.

Keep an eye on #1890 as it makes it's way across the Sun in the days ahead....

"RED IN THE MORNING, SAILORS......."

After over a week of solid fog, then a few days of beautiful sunshine, it looks like we're in for some typical northwest Fall weather......

POTENTIAL FLARE ACTIVITY

The Sun. Circled regions indicate potential for flare activity.

(Click image for larger version)

STRANGE OBJECT????

Using a series of long-exposure images, I like to scan the sky for any meteors or other interesting activity. Last night (Oct. 28), I had my camera running from 7 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. Other than some aircraft and satellites crossing the sky, the only thing that caught my attention was this "blinking" object (crossing left to right at the top). Since this time-lapse video was made from several 30-second images, anything moving across the sky would show as a long (and very brief) streak. This object, however, must have been a very, very slow moving satellite and spinning in a way that only part of it would reflect the sunlight from below the horizon (which would cause the "blinking" effect.)

According to my estimates, this object was visible for approximately 39 minutes!

This view is centered on 87° east, and 59° elevation, and covers the time from 10:39 p.m. PDT to 11:04 p.m. PDT on October 29, 2013. 

THE SUN: October 28

NIGHT MOVES: October 27-28 2013

This timelapse video consists of 2,962 frames, each one being an 8-second exposure. The view is looking north-east from my location. It covers the time from 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.   Enjoy!

SPECKLED SUN

This image of the Sun was taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft.

A strong (M-class) solar flare erupted from the circled region this morning (Oct. 27), along with the other indicated regions which have already been producing strong flares.

If the two regions on the left continue their current activity, some aurora may be visible in the mid to high latitude locations on Earth. Keep your eyes on the skies!

(click image for a larger version)

                                                                                 

 

Below, is my image of the Sun today (Oct. 27), when the clouds finally cleared...

 

 



NEW POWERFUL SUNSPOT EMERGING

A new sunspot is emerging from the Sun's eastern limb, and it is already crackling with X-class solar flares.
Region #1882 shows signs of continued strong flare activity, as well as 2 other regions already facing Earth (see image below).

Such high activity could spark aurora activity in high and mid latitudes on Earth. Stay tuned.....

JUPITER RADIO NOISE

The prediction chart for Jupiter radio emissions.

Note circled prediction....

 

The actual observed radio reception from my receiver.

The circled predicted local time corresponds with the

circled observed local time! (The predicted times are

pretty accurate, but not guaranteed). Look and see if

other observed "spikes" match up with predicted times...

 

 

 

TOYS

The GIANT TOY BUS they let me play with every day.

(Gillig 43' Diesel/Electric Hybrid)

 

COLLEGE STATION in the Fall.

(Everett Community College)

 

FINALLY.....The Sun!!!!!

Finally, after over a week of socked-in fog, the Sun made it's appearance this morning!!!!
I've been following these large, powerful sunspots online, but haven't had the chance to photograph them until today!!!! Due to a strong solar flare yesterday, there may be some aurora activity in the next day or so........

Who's Watching??

Since May 2007, when I first started my blog page, there have been over 4,000 views. Below, are the statistics....Thank you, everyone!!!

United States	2352
Russia	367
France	237
Germany	235
Latvia	231
Netherlands	223
United Kingdom	144
Ukraine	125
Canada	58
Turkey	55

SOLAR FLARE

The top image shows the Sun, with the current sunspots visible from Earth.

The bottom image shows 2 graphs...on the left is from the GOES satellite and on the right is from my VLF receiver, here in Marysville, Washington.

The red arrows show the time of a strong solar flare from sunspot #1875.

The GOES graph shows the Xray intensity, while the VLF graph registers the signal strength of a VLF station in Hawaii. The signal from Hawaii is actually being "bounced" off Earth's  ionosphere and the Sun's activity affects the nature of the ionosphere. Hence, a strong flare will change it's density, causing the received signal to become stronger.

Grand Canyon

A view of part of our Grand Canyon hike in September. This was taken on Day 3 of our 4-day hike.

We were about 1/2 way to our third campsite, going up toward the South Rim.

A Google Earth view of the hike, from the North Rim (top), and each of the three

campsites we stopped at along the way. Grand Canyon Village (bottom) was

the final destination.

 

Packing the shuttle van for the hike. Danny (our guide) is in the red t-shirt.

 

Kolob Canyons Park

On the trail at Kolob

Shannon and Molly at Kolob

 

After the Kolob Canyon hike

 

Day 3: On the way to dinner on Tonto Plateau.

 

Last day in the Grand Canyon.

(l-r): Me, Molly, Shannon, Alex, Danny

 

"...THAT'S a long way down!"

 

 

 

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 4 days, 3 nights...Grand Canyon, North Rim to South Rim.

Sept. 14-17, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 Orionid Meteor Shower

Tonight (Oct. 20) is the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower.
Every year at this time, Earth passes through the orbital debris of Halley's comet, named after the English astronomer, Edmond Halley.
Although the comet's last visit through the solar system was in 1986, and it won't come around again until 2061 (every 76 years), the trail of dust and debris that it leaves is still floating in space and Earth passes through it every year on it's journey around the Sun.

Unfortunately, tonight the Moon is big and bright, which will wash out all but the brightest fireballs.
Also, in my location, we are in the middle of a stubborn high-pressure system that is keeping the early-morning fog around for most of the day and night.

But....I have a couple of options.  I can LISTEN to the meteors by either going to the Space Radar web site, located HERE, or I can hear some of them on my FM radio. (If I happen to capture some, I will try to post the audio on my blog later).

If you are lucky enough to have clear skies tonight, find a spot that will block out the glare of the Moon (behind a building, for example) and watch in the early morning hours before dawn.
GOOD LUCK!

Skies Over Meadowcreek Park Observatory (August 4, 2013)

The International Space Station crosses the sky directly overhead (from NW to SE), crossing the
Perseus Double star cluster (circled)....

A Perseid meteor and the Perseus Double star cluster....(part of the constellation Perseus can be seen at the bottom......

A wide-field view of the sky directly overhead.....

Wallace Falls Training Hike (for Grand Canyon)

This is my 2nd hike to Wallace Falls. My 1st was 2 weeks ago. This one was a little easier. My plan is to do this (or some other 5+ mile hike) every week until I leave for my road trip to the Grand Canyon.

THE SUN: July 10

 These two images of the Sun show AR 1785 (active region 1785) as it nears the Sun's western limb. This region has had the potential for strong solar flare activity for the past 2 weeks, but has only produced a handful of minor flares.....

TIME-LAPSE WEATHER JUNE 21

12 hours of weather, as seen from the all-sky camera on my roof...

ACTIVE AURORA (Thursday, June 6)

The Northern Lights were active last night (June6)....

Sadie

We finally are getting some sunshine this week. Good time to dig into some yard work and exercise. I spent most of the day working on the front yard, pruning shrubbery, weeding and tilling.
This morning, Sadie went exploring in the backyard, while I just soaked up some sun.

We both miss our buddy, Boone, but we are doing well. Sadie has become my little "shadow"....following me around the house, going with me in the car and supervising my yard work.

Lazy Day With My Camera.....

"...sign? what sign?! I didn't see any sign!"

The Arlington Municpal Airport is 2 miles north of me.....

A stunt plane practices for the Arlington Fly-In this summer....