• Things That Were,Things That Are, And Things That Must Soon Come To Pass

    "A star is gone! A star is gone! There is a blank in Heaven … " So said the 19th century poet George Darley in his poem "The Fallen Star". Was this merely poetic imagery and metaphor, or could it have been based on some historic fact?I realize that

  • Night sky guide for May 2014

    May brings us the peak of above average Eta Aquariid meteor shower on the nights of May 5 and 6 but the highlight of this month is a possible intense meteor storm on May 23 and 24 as Earth passes through the dust trail left by Comet 209P/LINEAR in it

  • Carrington-class CME narrowly misses Earth

    On July 23, 2012, an intense solar storm narrowly missed Earth. The CME reached the speed of almost 3000 km/s, which is more than 4 times faster than a typical eruption. It was not Earth directed, but it did hit STEREO A spacecraft and researchers have been analyzi

  • Unprecedented amount of ice still present at Great Lakes, USA/Canada

    Although North America is now a full month into astronomical spring, the Great Lakes are still almost half frozen. As of April 22, 2014, the Great Lakes were 33.9 percent ice covered. Some scientists say that the amount of ice that still remains could have a big im

  • Major solar flare measuring X1.3 erupted behind the west limb

    Major solar flare measuring X1.3 erupted on April 25, 2014 from Region 2035 located behind the western limb. The event started at 00:17, peaked at 00:27, and ended at 00:38 UTC. Because of the location of this region CME was not Earth directed.R3 (strong) Radio Blac

  • Activity intensifies at Ubinas volcano, Peru

    Near-constant small to moderate explosions and ash emissions continue at Ubinas, most active volcano of Peru. As activity intensifies authorities are considering raising the alert level to orange after which the local communities will have to be evacuated.Orlan