esplaobs: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

" VIKINGS HOUR " ( JUNTO A MARIA BELEN, JUAN IGNACIO GERINI Y LICENCIADO EN FISICA JOSE LUIS LOMASCOLO )

Sunday, August 30, 2015

STABBING WESTWARD - WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? ♥ ♪

STABBING WESTWARD
"What Do I Have To Do?"

You make it hard to breathe
It's as if I'm suffocating
And when you're next to me
I can feel your heartbeat through my skin
It makes me sad to think
This all could be for nothing
I wish there was a way
For you to see inside of me
I've never felt this way
About anyone or anything
Tell me
What do I have to do to make you happy?
What do I have to do to make you understand?
What do I have to do to make you want me?
And, if I can't make you want me
What do I have to do?

I know exactly what you're thinking
But I swear this time I will not let you down
I'm not as selfish as I used to be
That was a part of me that never made me proud
Right now I think I would try anything
Anything at all to keep you satisfied
God I hope you see what loving you would do to me
All I want is one more chance, so tell me...
What do I have to do to make you love me?

ORDINARY HUMAN - ONE REPUBLIC ♥ ♪

THE EDGE OF THE SUN Photo: Sergio Castillo

Giant sunspot AR2403 has departed, leaving the face of the sun mostly blank. Amateur astronomer Sergio Castillo of Corona, CA, decided to look for something else to photograph. "My search didn't take long," he says, "because there are plenty of beautiful prominences on the solar limb." This is what he saw on Aug. 29th:

The massive structure is more than 30,000 km tall and 100,000 km wide. Planet Earth could fit through the central arch with room to spare. (Croquette, anyone?)

Prominences are plumes of hot plasma held aloft by magnetic fields on the sun. Typical prominences last a few days, until the underlying magnetic supports become unstable and collapse. This one has already been visible for several days, so a photogenic explosion could be in the offing. Amateur astronomers with solar telescopes and filters are encouraged to monitor developments.

AURORA Taken by Anthony Madden on August 28, 2015 @ Anchorage, Alaska

NORTHERN LIGHTS, NO PARKA REQUIRED: Arctic skies are dimming again after a rare burst of August auroras. For the past few days, Earth has been passing through a region of space where interplanetary magnetic fields opened a crack in the magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel displays like this one over Anchorage, Alaska:

" The sky was full of lights", says Anthony Madden, who took the picture from Lake Hood Airport on Aug. 28th. "The best part was, it was warm enough that I did not need a parka."

The storms are subsiding now, but they could return on Sept. 2nd when Earth crosses through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet. This is called a "solar sector boundary crossing," and NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when it occurs.

MI GALAXIA FAVORITA ! ( ANDROMEDA ) MESSIER 31: The Andromeda Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler

What is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy? Andromeda. In fact, our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it takes about two million years for light to reach us from there. Although visible without aid, the above image of M31 is a digital mosaic of 20 frames taken with a small telescope. Much about M31 remains unknown, including exactly how long it will before it collides with our home galaxy.

Collinder 399: The Coat Hanger Image Credit & Copyright: John Chumack

Is this coat hanger a star cluster or an asterism? This cosmic hang-up has been debated over much of last century, as astronomers wondered whether this binocular-visible object is really a physically associated open cluster or a chance projection. Chance star projections are known as asterisms, an example of which is the popular Big Dipper. Recent precise measurements from different vantage points in the Earth's orbit around the Sun have uncovered discrepant angular shifts indicating that the Coat Hanger is better described as an asterism. Known more formally as Collinder 399, this bright stellar grouping is wider than the full moon and lies in the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula).