Daily Suspicious0bserver's Weather Post:
September 25, 2014
What's in the sky tonight?
September 25, 2014
-A CME launched into space by the M2-class flare of Sept 23rd will not hit Earth, according to NOAA analysts. Forecast models predict that it will sail wide of our planet. More CMEs may be in the offing, however. The source of the Sept. 23rd explosion, big sunspot AR2172, has an unstable magnetic field that is likely to erupt again. Because the sun's rotation is turning the sunspot toward Earth, future CMEs will probably be geoeffective.
-How do you know it's autumn in Iceland? It's when the icebergs turn green. Last night, Steve Lansdell photographed the phenomenon from the Jokulsaron Ice Lagoon. "We've seen auroras 4 nights in a row, but last night was really spectacular," says Lansdell. "The green lit up the icebergs in a wonderful display that thrilled my friends."
These are equinox auroras, appearing less than 48 hours after the onset of northern autumn. For reasons researchers don't fully understand, auroras love equinoxes. At this time of year even a gentle gust of solar wind can spark a beautiful display. Mindful of the season, NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of more polar geomagnetic storms--and more green ice--in the next 24 hours.
Astro Picture of the Day:
September 25, 2014
Source:
The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Also known as M31, the spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5 million light-years away. NGC 206 is near top center in this gorgeous close-up of the southwestern extent of Andromeda's disk, a remarkable composite of data from space and ground-based observatories. The bright, blue stars of NGC 206 indicate its youth. In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old. Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 206 spans about 4,000 light-years. That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Star forming sites within Andromeda are revealed by the telltale reddish emission from clouds of ionized hydrogen gas.