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Daily Suspicious0bserver's Weather Post:
October 19, 2014

What's in the sky tonight?
October 19, 2014

-Today, Oct. 19th, Comet Siding Spring is buzzing Mars. The encounter is so close, the atmosphere of the comet could brush against the atmosphere of the planet. Will this spark auroras on Mars? Follow a webcast of the encounter courtesy of the Virtual Telescope project; watch in real time starting at 16:45 UT (12:45 p.m. EDT) today, or watch the recording later. LINK: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2014/...-online-event/

-This comes as no surprise. Behemoth sunspot AR2192 has unleashed an X1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast in this extreme UV image of the sun on Oct. 19th (0500 UT). A pulse of ultraviolet and X-radiation from the flare caused a brief but strong HF radio blackout on the dayside of Earth, mainly over Asia and Australia. Also, the explosion probably hurled a CME into space. This possibility has not yet been confirmed by SOHO coronagraph data. If a CME is forthcoming, it will probably sail wide of Earth due to the sunspot's location near the sun's eastern limb.

Big sunspots tend to produce big flares, and clearly AR2192 is no exception. More X-flares are likely as AR2192 turns toward Earth in the days ahead. Also, if you have a solar telescope, point it at the sun. This active region is a real beauty.

Astro Picture of the Day:
October 19, 2014

Source:
Comet McNaught was perhaps the most photogenic comet of modern times -- from Earth. After making quite a show in the northern hemisphere in early January of 2007, the comet moved south and developed a long and unusual dust tail that dazzled southern hemisphere observers. In late January 2007, Comet McNaught was captured between Mount Remarkable and Cecil Peak in this spectacular image taken from Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand. The bright comet dominates the right part of the above image, while the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy dominates the left. Careful inspection of the image will reveal a meteor streak just to the left of the comet. Today, Comet Siding Spring may become the most photogenic comet of modern times -- from Mars.