Focus

Vortex. "Eez Uzn!"

Izanagi/Izanami, 1st Creation

Ame-no-Uzumi-no-Mikoto/Sarutahiko-no-Kami, 2nd Creation.

GEOMAGNETIC STORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY: NOAA forecasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible today, May 2nd, as a fast-moving stream of solar wind buffets Earth's magnetic field. There is a slight chance the storm could escalate to category G2. If so, auroras would be visible after nightfall in northern-tier US states. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text

A GIANT RING OF ELLERMAN BOMBS: Astronomers are monitoring a very large sunspot now turning toward Earth. Sunspot 4079 stretches more than 140,000 km from end to end and has two dark cores each large enough to swallow Earth. Moreover, it is surrounded by a ring of Ellerman Bombs:9

Philippe Tosi took this picture from his backyard observatory in Nîmes, France, and inserted an image of Earth for scale. "It is an impressive sunspot," he says.

Note the pinpoints of light ringing the two dark cores. These are Ellerman bombs: Magnetic explosions about one-millionth as powerful as a true solar flare. A handful are circled for reference. Named after physicist Ferdinand Ellerman who studied them in the early 20th century, a single Ellerman bomb releases about 1026 ergs of energy--equal to about 100,000 World War II atomic bombs.

Ellerman bombs are a sign of magnetic complexity in a sunspot. Opposite polarities bump together, reconnect, and--boom! A full-fledged flare may not be far behind. 

Scribbleartsaurus

Skinny Puppy, Ogre

Festivale Day on Pazax!

3

An Ode to the Spirit of Wildness

Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody (High Quality)

HIGH INTEREST" REENTRY: In 1972, the Soviet Union's Kosmos 482 spacecraft was supposed to land on Venus. Instead, it's about to return to Earth. ETA: May 10th, give or take a few days.

"The reentry of the Kosmos 482 Descent Craft will not be your standard reentry," says satellite analyst Marco Langbroek, who has been tracking the object for years. "The Descent Craft was designed to survive entry through the dense atmosphere of Venus. It will therefore likely survive reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere intact and make a crash landing. This will therefore be a high-interest reentry."



A museum replica of Venera 8, launched just days before Kosmos 482. Credit: NASA

This spacecraft was part of the Soviet Union's sucessful Venera program to explore Venus. Between 1961 and 1984, thirteen Venera probes successfully entered Venus's atmosphere, with ten landing on the planet's surface. Kosmos 482, however, never left Earth. The upper stage of its rocket shut down prematurely, leaving it in a 206 x 9802 kilometer orbit that has been decaying ever since.

"With an orbital inclination of 52 degrees, the Kosmos 482 Descent Craft could come down anywhere between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south latitude," says Langbroek. "This includes much of south and mid-latitude Europe and Asia, as well as the Americas, Africa and Australia. (An ocean landing is most likely.)"



Above: A picture of Venus from Kosmos 482's sister craft Venera 13 [more]

It is unlikely that the parachute system will work after more than 50 years in space, so this will be a crash landing. How bad will it be? Details of the descent craft have been lost to history. Langbroek believes it is about 1 meter in diameter with a mass of ~495 kg. It won't do major damage, but you wouldn't want to be standing where it lands.