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Sep 22, 2011

Space Station's Aurora Movie a must-see!

Space Weather News for Sept 22, 2011

SPACE STATION AURORA MOVIE: Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have recorded their best views yet of auroras dancing in the high atmosphere of Earth during a geomagnetic storm on Sept 17. Their must-see movie, just released by NASA, is highlighted on today's edition of SpaceWeather News.

UARS RE-ENTRY UPDATE: NASA's massive UARS satellite remains on track to re-enter Earth's atmosphere during the late hours of Sept 23. The fireball will probably miss North America, according to latest estimates of UARS orbital elements, but almost every other continent falls under a possible re-entry ground track. Better estimates are expected in the next 24 hours. As it makes its last orbits, the tumbling satellite is flashing brightly in the night sky, attracting the attention of stargazers and photographers.

Check SpaceWeather's satellite tracker for last-chance sightings over your location @ flybys.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The crash and burn of the US's UARS is an apt metaphor, indeed, even to the extent that other continents might receive the debris. Sad for our historical high tech prowess which we are defunding, how sorrowful in terms of that defunding to continue our research into space itself, how apt in terms of our visiting our military power on other - hapless - continents.

Jude Cowell said...

Agreed, Anonymous, and thanks for sharing your view.

Speaking of tech prowess, i just tried out StarWalk on iPad for viewing the heavens and amazingly, the position of UARS was shown too. And the app is only $5!

Jude (no commish accrues--I just have to say that it's an astounding app which must be experienced to be appreciated!)