It was during the height of the Cold War and a powerful solar storm could have led to a disastrous military conflict between the US and Soviet Union if not for the early efforts of the US Air Force to monitor solar activity. On May 23rd, 1967, a solar storm took place that was so powerful, it jammed radar and radio communications in polar regions and the US Air Force actually began to prepare aircraft for war thinking the nation’s surveillance radars were being jammed by the Soviet Union. Fortunately, space weather forecasters in the military suspected there might be another cause and they relayed information about the possibility that a solar storm could have been the reason for the disrupted radar and radio communications. As it turned out, this information was enough to keep the planes on the ground and the US avoided a potential nuclear weapon exchange with the Soviet Union.
Read More
The sun continues to be very quiet and it has been without sunspots 77% of the time this year which is the same exact percentage experienced during all of 2019. In fact, last year turned out to be the quietest year in terms of sunspots since 1913 with 281 spotless days as the solar minimum phase intensified from the year before. Back-to-back years of very high levels of spotlessness on the sun would certainly support the notion this is indeed a noteworthy and deep solar minimum. Solar minimum represents the end of solar cycle #24 which featured the fewest number of sunspots since solar cycle 14 peaked in February 1906. Some of the predictions for solar cycle #25 suggest that it may peak in July 2025 and continue the trend of weakening solar cycles that began around 1980 when solar cycle 21 peaked in sunspot activity.
One of the natural effects of decreasing solar activity is the weakening of the ambient solar wind and its magnetic field which, in turn, allows more and more cosmic rays to penetrate the solar system. In fact, one measurement indicates that cosmic ray activity is very close to an all-time high for the satellite era. The intensification of cosmic rays can have important consequences on such things as Earth’s cloud cover and climate, the safety of air travelers, and as a possible trigger mechanism for lightning.
Read More
This information may fall under the “haven’t we heard this before” category, but there is a comet out there that may be visible during the next few weeks. Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) was discovered in late March and it has now crossed the equator and is visible in the northern hemisphere. The comet has faded a bit since last week, but it is still a relatively easy binocular object in the hours just before sunrise at magnitude +6, but barely above the (northeastern) horizon.
Read More
There was a chance that Comet ATLAS was going to put on a dazzling show during the month of May, but as has been the experience with many comets in recent history, those hopes vanished as we approached event time. In fact, there is no longer any doubt that Comet ATLAS (officially named C/2019 Y4) is falling apart.
Read More
It was just a few years ago when the nation went crazy for the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse on US soil since 1918 and it provided a great opportunity for scientists and sky observers. What became known as “The Great American Solar Eclipse” took place on August 21st, 2017 when the moon passed between the sun and earth resulting in a 67-mile wide shadow that crossed the country from Oregon-to-South Carolina. If you happened to miss the last total solar eclipse or if it was cloudy in your part of the country then you’ll be happy to know there will be another opportunity exactly 4 years from today.
Read More
About a month ago, Comet ATLAS was very difficult to find, but it is now as bright as an 8th magnitude star and has generated quite an impressive tail. This brightness is hundreds of times brighter than astronomers predicted when it discovered the comet several months ago. While it is still too dim to see with the unaided eye, it is becoming an increasingly easy target for backyard telescopes. The comet is expected to become much brighter by the time it sweeps by the sun closer than Mercury during late May, it could even rival Venus in the evening sky.
Read More
Just a few weeks ago, Comet ATLAS was very difficult to find, but it has surprised many astronomers and has brightened quite dramatically in recent days. The comet is now about as bright now as an 8th or 9th magnitude star which is hundreds of times brighter than astronomers predicted when it was discovered four months ago. There is increasing hope that Comet ATLAS will become quite bright by the time it approaches the sun in late May – perhaps even as bright as the moon.
Read More
The rocket launch that was originally scheduled for late Sunday afternoon at NASA’s Wallops Island Facility has been rescheduled for Friday, February 14th at 3:43 PM and it may be visible throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. The original launch was scrubbed due to a faulty sensor issue which should be resolved by week’s end. Weather can be an issue on Friday as winds will be quite gusty out of the northwest throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. This will be Northrop Grumman’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. These resupply missions help NASA deliver critical research to the orbiting lab and increase its ability to conduct new investigations.
Read More
Over the long term, the sun is the main driver of weather and climate on Earth and it is also connected to such phenomenon as the aurora borealis also known as the northern lights, upper atmospheric high-latitude blocking, and the influx of cosmic rays into Earth’s atmosphere. The aurora borealis tends to occur more often during times of increased solar activity though they can actually take place at any time of a solar cycle. On the other hand, there is a tendency for more frequent high-latitude blocking events in the atmosphere during periods of low solar activity and these episodes can play an important role in winter weather conditions across the central and eastern US. The influx of cosmic rays into the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space tends to increase dramatically during solar minimums which we are experiencing at the current time. Interestingly, there is evidence that solar activity plays a role in volcanic activity on our planet. In fact, in times of low solar activity such as during the current solar minimum, volcanic activity tends to rise. Indeed, there has been a significant amount of volcanic activity in recent weeks including the latest eruption in the Philippines.
Read More
Normally, the stratosphere has no clouds at all as it is an extremely dry layer in Earth’s atmosphere. Every once in awhile, however, it gets so cold up there that the sparse water molecules can actually assemble themselves into icy clouds. Conditions for the past couple of days have been conducive to the formation of such clouds as it is extremely cold in the stratosphere over the Arctic Circle with temperatures as low as -85 degrees (C). As a result, there has been an outbreak of these polar stratospheric clouds and some reports suggest they are more prevalent than ever filling up as much as 25% of the sky.
Read More
