Recently in ASTRONOMICAL EVENT Category

by Mike Hamernik http://twitter.com/#!/MikeHamernik

BELOW:  Timeslapse of the aurora from Martin, Michigan, 17 miles north of Kalamazoo

Monday night's aurora borealis show didn't last very long, but it definitely left an impression on those who captured the dancing red and green lights.

According to Triton College astronomer Dan Joyce, this was the Chicago areas first significant northern lights event in nearly seven years.  By most accounts, the display peaked between 8:30PM & 9:15PM CDT. 

Urban lights prevented city dwellers from taking in the show, but many suburban locations were dark enough experience the exhibition including Batavia, Mundelein, Long Grove, Champaign, Kenosha, Algonquin and Milwaukee

One photographer west of Madison, WI claims the display was so bright "it lit up the ground".  His photographs can be seen here http://dakotalapse.com/?p=581

If you are ever fortunate enough to witness a vibrant display of the aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights in the northern hemisphere, I can guarantee it is a sight you will never forget.

Special thanks to Michael Gavin and Shawn Gavin of Martin, Michigan. http://www.lakefx.net/index.html

Our astronomy consultant Dan Joyce, astronomer at Triton College's Cernan Space Center has passed on three more spectacular photos taken out in the northwest corner of Illinois just south of Elizabeth in Jo Daviess County.

This photo was shot with an 8" telescope is IC1871, also known as the "Heart and Soul Nebula" in Cassiopeia, probably just over 2,000 light-years away.

This photo, taken with a 10" scope depicts IC 405 also known as the "Flaming Star Nebula" in Auriga and is about 1,600 light-years out. The bright star varies its radiant output but averages 950 times the solar luminosity. The reddish color is hydrogen fluorescing in the star's ultraviolet radiation and the bluish-purple is a reflection of the star's own color mixed with the glowing hydrogen.

The last photo is galaxy IC 342 (it has no fancy name) and is about 11,000,000 light-years away in the obsure northern constellation of Camelopardalis. This shot was taken with an 8" telescope.

Astronomical smorgasbord
Our astronomy consultant Dan Joyce, astronomer at Triton College's Cernan Space Center was kind enough to share this spectacular array of photos with us. These shots were taken with the telescopes pictured below just south of Elizabeth, Illinois located in the far northwest part of the state near Galena. The crystal-clear dark skies of Jo Daviess County necessary to produce these great shots were provided by Dan's long-time friend Sheldon Faworski. Dan is currently building a new 12.5 inch telescope which is scheduled to be put into use in the next few weeks and should produce even more outstanding photos.

The 6 inch white scope and the 10 inch red scope

The 8 inch telescope

An emission nebula depicting a vast array of stardust glowing in the light of hydrogen excited by ultra-violet light of nearby stars known as NGC6820 about 1,500 light years out in the direction of the Cygnus-Cepheus border. This shot was taken by the 8 inch scope.

This is a picture of the star clusters of M38 (on the left about 4,500 light years) and NGC1907 (on the right about 14,000 light years out) in Auriga just north of the horns of Taurus. This photo was shot with the 6 inch telescope.

This photo shows the reflection nebula known as the "Ghost Nebula". vdB141 in Cepheus taken by the 10 inch scope and thought to be 2,500 light years away.

M38 is the 38th object in Charles Messier's catalog of objects not to be confused with comets.
NGC1907 and NGC6820 are those entries into Johann Dreyer's "New General Catalog" of objects including clusters, nubulae and galaxies. Finally, vdB141 in that entry into Sidney van den Berg's catalog of very faint objects.

Thanks again Dan for these great photos and accompanying explanations.

Posted by Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

The astronomical community has been abuzz for some time regarding the remarkably low level of solar activity (sunspots) in recent months. Our astronomer Dan Joyce says the situation is truly abnormal--especially in a period in which the sun should be cycling into a more active phase as a new 11 year solar maximum approaches. This geomagnetic plot back to 2000 underscores just how anomalous the low level of solar activity has been. The sun is in a less energetic state when sunspots are so limited and there are some in meteorology and astronomy who believe this can have an effect on earth's weather. It's a situation which is going to be interesting to follow. Our thanks, as always, to Dan Joyce for his insight and expertise on this subject and for sending us this geomagnetic activity plot.

Tom Skilling

Graph courtesy of astronomer Dan Joyce, Cernan Earth and Space Center, Triton College

Our intrepid astronomer Dan Joyce has forwarded this spectacular shot of Jupiter,
photographed by his colleague Don Parker. As Dan e-mailed to us:

"Jupiter is dominating the southern sky this summer. Anyone can see it in a clear
sky to the southeast before midnight and in the south thereafter for the rest of the
season. The interesting feature is that the Great Red Spot has been joined by two little
red spots nearby. The GRS, for scale, extends almost two-and-a-half earth diameters
and is a centuries old anti-cyclonic storm system with winds measured by the Voyager
I spacecraft at nearly 350 miles per hour. Jupiter itself weighs about 318 times the
earth."

Thanks Dan!

-Tom Skilling

The International Space Station rises in the southwest then passes overhead Wednesday
night between 9:40 and 9:47 pm

Thanks to e-mailer BobK who alerts us to Wednesday night’s pass of the International
Space Station between 9:40 and 9:47 pm. Here’s additional information Bob has been
kind enough to forward to us:

Weather permitting, the best viewing of the International Space Station flying
overhead in quite a while will be this Wed May 21 at 9:40pm. The space station will fly
directly overhead between 9:40pm and 9:47pm, making it a very long and bright event.
(Of course, it will still be just a very bright moving “star” in the sky).

Here is a map of its path (Note: This is designed to be printed out and held overhead, so
that the compass directions are correct) It will rise in the south-west around 9:40pm,
pass overhead at approximately 9:44pm, and finally set in the north-east around 9:47
p.m.

The International Space Station rises in the southwest then passes overhead Wednesday
night between 9:40 and 9:47 pm

Thanks to e-mailer BobK who alerts us to Wednesday night’s pass of the International
Space Station between 9:40 and 9:47 pm. Here’s additional information Bob has been
kind enough to forward to us:

Weather permitting, the best viewing of the International Space Station flying
overhead in quite a while will be this Wed May 21 at 9:40pm. The space station will fly
directly overhead between 9:40pm and 9:47pm, making it a very long and bright event.
(Of course, it will still be just a very bright moving “star” in the sky).

Here is a map of its path (Note: This is designed to be printed out and held overhead, so
that the compass directions are correct) It will rise in the south-west around 9:40pm,
pass overhead at approximately 9:44pm, and finally set in the north-east around 9:47
p.m.