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| Image credit: NASA |
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| See the Sunspots for Yourself |
Oct 24, 2003 - As you might know, there are currently two huge groups of sunspots on the surface of the Sun. They're really easy to see if you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope. Don't look at the sun directly, you can damage your eyes, but there's an easy way you can project an image of the Sun so you can see the spots. All you need is a piece of paper.
You line up the binoculars so that light from the Sun is passing through the eyepiece and onto a piece of paper you're holding. Move the binoculars around a big and you'll eventually see a big bright circle moving around your paper. That's the Sun. Then, focus the eyepiece of the binoculars so that the circle of light has a nice crisp edge. You should be able to see the sunspots right away. NASA has some great instructions on how to do this.
Let me know how it goes!
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. Hotmail users are going to be experiencing some delays for the next while. There's a problem with the way Hotmail tries to limit SPAM that's clogging up all the mail they're receiving. My newsletters are sometimes taking days before they're getting accepted.
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| Image credit: Blake Goddard |
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| New Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Tested |
| Oct 24, 2003 - Alliant Techsystems performed the first static test of a new five-segment solid rocket booster for the space shuttle. This new booster gives approximately 10% more thrust than the four-segment boosters that the shuttle currently flies with. If these new boosters are installed on the shuttle it would have a few benefits: the shuttle would have enough thrust to still reach orbit if its main engine fails, it won't have to make an emergency landing; or it could be used to let the shuttle carry an additional 10,500 kg of cargo. |
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| Image credit: NASA |
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| Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice is Accelerating |
| Oct 24, 2003 - New images of shrinking sea ice may provide further evidence that the Earth is undergoing significant climate change. NASA scientists compared images of arctic sea ice since 1981 and have measured that it's shrinking by an average of 9% per decade - summer sea ice in 2002 was a record low levels. The loss of ice could accelerate global warming because liquid water absorbs sunlight instead of reflecting it like ice. |
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| Image credit: SOHO |
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| Big Solar Storm Headed our Way |
| Oct 24, 2003 - A gigantic group of sunspots, 10 times larger than the Earth, have been active on the surface of the Sun for the past few days. Solar astronomers have spotted several Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) blasting out of the sunspots, and one of them seems to be coming our way. Once it reaches the Earth, it will interact with the planet's geomagnetic field, and potentially disrupt communications satellites. Beautiful auroras (Northern Lights) will probably be visible, even from middle latitudes. The solar material is expected to sweep past the Earth Friday or Saturday. |
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