Further to Alert Notice #353 (July 11, 2007), Dr. Markus Boettcher (OhioUniversity) requests optical observations of the blazar 3C 66A during its current high state. Optical observations will support gamma-ray observations by the VERITAS telescope in Arizona. All observations, including visual estimates and CCD photometry … Read the rest of this article
Dr. Robert Stencel (Denver U.) requests enhanced coverage of the bright, long-period eclipsing binary star epsilon Aurigae through Wednesday. Observations are requested beginning immediately (October 29, 2009; JD 2455134) and continuing through November 5, 2009 (JD 2455141). This request is in conjunction with scheduled observations with the … Read the rest of this article
On October 8, 2009 at about 03:00 GMT, with no warning, an approx. 10-meter wide asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere above Indonesia and exploded.
The break-up was so powerful, it triggered nuclear test ban sensors thousands of kilometers away.
A just-released analysis of infrasound data shows that the asteroid detonated with an energy equivalent of about 50 kton of TNT, similar … Read the rest of this article
Event: Nova in Sagittarius (V5584 Sgr = N Sgr 2009 No. 4)
Discovered By: Koichi Nishiyama, Kurume, Fukuoka-ken, Japan, and F. Kabashima, Miyaki-cho, Saga-ken, Japan
Discovery Date: Oct. 26.439 UT (two frames from Oct. 26.439 and 26.440)
Discovery Magnitude: unfiltered CCD magnitude 9.3, using a … Read the rest of this article
The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.
“Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, the source of the Orionids,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour.”
The best time to look is … Read the rest of this article
The WZ Sge-type dwarf nova EG Cancri has been reported in outburst by Ian Miller (Swansea, Wales). He reported EG Cnc at m(CV) = 14.3 on 2009 October 12.138 (JD 2455116.638). Subsequent unfiltered time series observations by Miller reported to the AAVSO confirm EG Cnc … Read the rest of this article
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The LCROSS mission operations team initiated power-up of the LCROSS science payload and saw this view of the moon. |
NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, created twin impacts on the moon’s surface early on October 9, 2009 in a search for water ice. Scientists will analyze data from the spacecraft’s instruments to assess whether water ice is … Read the rest of this article
The observers of the AAVSO are asked to participate in a long-term photometric monitoring campaign on a number of magnetically active dwarf stars, requested by Dr. Styliani (Stella) Kafka of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute of Washington. She requests long-term monitoring of … Read the rest of this article
Put on your hard hat and get ready for action, because on Friday, Oct. 9th, what you just imagined is really going to happen – and you can have a front row seat.Just imagine. A spaceship plunges out of the night sky, hits the ground and explodes. A plume of debris billows back into the heavens, leading your eye to … Read the rest of this article
Two sunspots, which appeared on the autumnal equinox to break several months of extreme solar quiet [see New Sunspots (Finally!)], have faded away, leaving the sun blank once again. The deepest solar minimum in nearly a century appears poised to continue. NASA spacecraft are now reporting a surge in cosmic rays around Earth caused, somewhat ironically, by this low … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
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