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Kp = 7

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/07/2015 : 12:33:51

Last night, according to NOAA the Aurora's main indicator called K sub p or Kp for short hit a whopping 7 between 0900 and 1200 GMT sparking an auroral outbreak that's capable of being viewed down to ~40°N latitude, including outside of NYC, Chicago, Seattle and dark sky locations in the northern tier of the US. Sadly I was snoozin' around then but will be on the lookout. University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute puts out predictions of Kp, however this was a surprise. They attributed it to a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).
You can find UA's GI website via Google. I got the app.
Keep looking up!

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shnool
Former Capri-25 Tech Editor

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USA
1032 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2015 : 18:53:44

OH MY GOD another former Jack Horkheimer fan!
http://youtu.be/LkJheh1XcAQ
4:19 into the video.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2015 : 21:14:50

Uh, yeah! I always watched the 5 minute featurettes with Jack on my local PBS station. I guess he was on staff at WPBT or WLRN, one of the Miami public stations. I've been a fan for a long time. Now they have a couple of 20-something astronomers on the local station who talk astronomy, and they quote the quote. But don't do it with the style or panache of Jack!

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2015 : 07:54:15

He was to astronomy sort of as Neil deGrasse Tyson is to astrophysics now.

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redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3478 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2015 : 11:05:51

One of my friends spent Christmas/new years in Iceland to see the show..

Pretty wild pictures from their trip...

Edited by - redeye on 01/08/2015 11:33:47

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Response Posted - 01/16/2015 : 22:02:52

The current sky phenomena are:
(1) Venus and Mercury in the setting sun twilight. Right after sunset (15-30 minutes afterwards) you'll notice a very bright "star" hanging in the southwestern sky. That's Venus, and she's a beautiful crescent when viewed with an 8-9 power binocs. With outstretched hand, 2-3 fingers to the right you will begin to see a dimmer, smaller star. That should be visible in the 3 or 4 o'clock position relative to Venus. Mercury is extremely extended at the moment, perpendicular to a line between earth and sun, so if you can resolve it, it would appear as a 1/2 circle. With Venus as a guide, this is the first time I have seen Mercury definitively.

(2) Comet Lovejoy - It's been a while that we've seen a bright comet. There had been several predictions of comets in the past few years (Comet Ison, for example), however none of them had come to fruition. Last night I looked for the comet between Orion (known for his three-star belt and sword) and constellation Taurus. Looking west of Orion around 9:00 PM, I found the Pleiades, the seven sisters. Just south of the Pleiades, I noticed a big blue-green blob and an iridescent tail and there was Lovejoy! In my binocs, I saw a distinct blue blob.

According to observers, during last week's CME event, the comet's tail was energized by the ionization and glowed more conspicuously than normal. I missed it (too cold out), but it was reported to be quite remarkable.

For more, see [url="http://www.spaceweather.com/"]Space Weather[/url] Enjoy!

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2015 : 15:11:21

Disappointed that I didn't get my 6" Celestron packed for FL this year. The sky has been incredible, especially since my neighbor has taken down his obnoxious sodium light. 7x50 only this year.

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bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1800 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2015 : 16:03:30

Bruce:

I'm in awe! Now what does it all mean???? (smile)

Love understanding the phenomena of te celeste

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2015 : 11:03:42

Peter,
Like the famous explorer said, "because it's there!"
But seriously, Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained it a bit in his recent "Cosmos" series, as Carl Sagan did previously on his show:
Here's this moist, oxygen-rich rock with a temperature moderating mechanism (oceans and air), with adequate protection from the harsh solar environment around us (UV, gamma, X-rays) and these carbon-based molecules somehow got together to reproduce themselves, eventually evolved "self-awareness" and only then began to wonder "why?".
Mostly it's fun to think of ourselves in our multiple environments - our homes, our neighborhoods, our country, our hemisphere, our world, the earth-moon system, the inner solar system, the entire solar system, the galactic neighborhood, the milky way galaxy, our local cluster of galaxies and then the other nearby galactic clusters, out to the event horizon.
But as Woody Allen's mother asked him in Annie Hall, so what business is it of yours that the universe is expanding???
See: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U1-OmAICpU"] Annie Hal Clip[/url]

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2015 : 11:24:24

Another cool series on YouTube [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn7VcOU3x2g"]A Science Odyssey: Mysteries of the Universe - with Charles Osgood[/url]. This is a five-part series, I assume was presented on CBS back in the day. Of course, since then, half of the "discoveries" stated there have changed!

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4032 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2015 : 15:37:28

Well fellow stargazers and part time sailors, Hold on to your hats cuz on Monday we are going to have a large asteroid do a fly by. Fairly close by space standards....It wouldn't hurt if everybody leans to starboard please..

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/22/us/asteroid-fly-by/

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5434 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2015 : 07:11:36

It will be close, that's for sure. http://spaceweather.com/ also has an article on it. They call it a mountain-sized rock. A miss, however, is as good as a mile!

Edited by - Voyager on 01/25/2015 07:13:50

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