"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!