On Aug. 16th, the Chinese space agency launched a new kind of satellite from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Nicknamed "Micius," after 5th century Chinese philosopher, the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale mission intends to establish an un-crackable quantum communications network and to test exotic theories of quantum teleportation.  This extraordinary picture taken by Yingwei Chen just a few days ago shows that Micius is working:

"In the early morning of Aug. 27th, I photographed an alignment test between the satellite and a telescope at the Xinglong Observation Station," explains Chen. "This is one of the five stations used for communicating with Micius. The telescope sends up a red laser beam to the satellite. Once the red laser is received, the satellite responds with a green laser beam. The telescope captures the beam and feeds it into an optical fiber if successful communication is established. The whole send-and receive process takes less than 3 seconds. In the picture, the red light has a wavelength of 671 nm and the green light has a wavelength of 532 nm."

One of the main goals of Micius will be to demonstrate quantum key distribution (QKD) between the satellite and stations on the ground. A quantum key is a string of ones and zeros, representing the quantum states of particles. These can be used to encode and decode hack-proof messages.
Another goal is to test some of the strange theories of quantum physics. For instance, Chinese physicists will attempt to quantum teleport a photon state from the Ali observatory on the Tibetan Plateau to the satellite, proving if successful that entanglement can exist between particles separated by orbital distances.
www.spaceweather.com

On Sept. 13th, the sun was eclipsed--twice! No one on Earth has ever seen anything like it. Indeed, it was only visible from Earth orbit. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the event:

The double eclipse began around 06:30 UT when Earth passed directly between the sun and SDO. The observatory watched as the body of our planet moved slowly across the face of the sun, producing a near black-out. When the Earth finally moved aside about an hour later, another eclipse was in progress. This time, the Moon was in the way. A movie from the SDO science team explains the crazy-perfect alignment required for such a view.

(In the snaphots above, note how the edge of the Earth looks so much fuzzier than the edge of the Moon. That's because our planet has an atmosphere and the Moon does not.)

Meanwhile on Earth, an ordinary partial eclipse was visible. People in South Africa and parts of Antarctica saw the Moon pass in front of the sun, off-center, producing crescent-shaped shadows and strange sunrises. Check the realtime photo gallery for their images.     www.spaceweather.com

On Sept. 2nd, an Atlas V rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral carrying a Navy communications satellite to orbit. The dawn launch was much anticipated by local sky watchers. Waking up early turned out to be a good decision. "What see saw blew our, and everyone's, minds," reports Jack Jewell, who took these pictures from a grassy hill near the NASA causeway:

"I've seen enough launches just before sunrise to know that sunlit rocket plumes against a darkish sky can be magical," says Jewell. "This was one of the best."

The Atlas V created a man-made noctilucent cloud. Water vapor in the rocket's exhaust crystallized in the high atmosphere, creating an icy cloud that turned blue when it was hit by the rays of the morning sun. Years ago, space shuttle launches produced similar displays.

Natural noctilucent clouds form around Earth's poles when water vapor in the mesosphere crystalizes around meteor smoke. Sometimes they spread as far south as Colorado and Utah, but rarely or never Florida. Electric-blue over the Sunshine State requires a rocket launch.    www.spaceweather.com

Solar Earthquake Trigger? -- Suspicious0bservers News

Published on 3 Aug 2014
www.Suspicious0bservers.org  :  www.ObservatoryProject.com

Does the Sun Trigger Large Earthquakes?   
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The sun is hitting its stride. Earth's closest star shot off yet another powerful solar flare today (June 11) after producing a pair of major solar storms Tuesday.   The X1-class flare reached its peak at 5:06 a.m. EDT (0906 GMT) and came from Region 2087 near the southeastern limb of the sun's disk, the same region of the star that produced the two powerful solar flares yesterday. NASA captured an amazing video of the X1 solar flare using its space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Today's solar tempest did cause a brief radio blackout on Earth, but officials with the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center based in Boulder, Colorado, don't think that the flare has an associated coronal mass ejection - a burst of hot plasma sent out from the sun during some solar flares.   While officials with the SWPC didn't initially think that Tuesday's flares produced a coronal mass ejection - a burst of plasma associated with some solar flares - later analysis shows that the flares did produced two CMEs. The first solar flare produced a relatively small CME, with the second merging with it shortly after, according to astronomer Tony Phillips at spaceweather.com.  The CME is expected to give Earth a glancing blow, when it reaches our part of the solar system Friday (June 13). It's possible that the incoming CME could create polar geomagnetic storms, according to Phillips.

The sun is in the active phase of its 11-year solar cycle, called Solar Cycle 24. NASA officials now think the sun is in its maximum, which they have dubbed the "mini max". Although the sun's activity is on the upswing, this solar max is still quite weak by comparison to other solar maximums on record, NASA officials have said. Scientists expected that the solar maximum (the peak in the sun's activity for the cycle) would occur in 2013.

"It's back," Dean Pesnell, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a NASA statement Tuesday (June 10) on the sun's weather cycle. "Solar max has arrived."

Wednesday's solar flare is the eighth documented X-flare shot out from the sun in 2014. The most powerful flare of the year - a monster X4.9-class flare - occurred in February. X2 flares are two times as intense as X1 flares. If aimed toward Earth, X-flares can damage the planet's power grids and put satellites and astronauts in space in danger.

The sun also shoots out other, less powerful classes of solar flares. M-class flares can produce incredible auroras, and our nearest star also emits weaker C-class flares.

NASA has a fleet of sun-monitoring satellites in orbit today. The Solar Dynamics Observatory, the space agency's twin STEREO probes and the joint U.S.-European SOHO spacecraft all keep watch on the sun from space.

Crackling with solar flares, a large sunspot is emerging over the sun's southeactive limb. It appears to be AR1944, returning after a two-week trip around the farside of the sun. Earlier today, astronomer Karzaman Ahmad photographed the active region from the Langkawi National Observatory in Malasia:

According to tradition, sunspots that circle around the farside of the sun are re-numbered when they return. The new designation of AR1944 is AR1967. "Sunspot AR1967 is as big as Earth!" notes Ahmad.

Earlier this month, AR1944/AR1967 produced an X1-class solar flare and one of the strongest radiation storms of the current solar cycle. Is round 2 about to begin? Solar activity is definitely increasing as AR1967 comes around he bend. Earth orbiting satellites have detected at least five M-class solar flares since yesterday, including this one recorded on Jan. 28th (07:30 UT) by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

More flares are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 5% chance of X-flares and a 50% chance of M-flares during the next 24 hours.           www.spaceweather.com

January 18, 2014 – SPACE – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) is teaming up with a company that manufactures fishing equipment to create a net that will sweep the heavens of the man-made debris orbiting our planet. The first test of the equipment is scheduled to start in late February, when a rocket will be launched and a satellite developed by researchers at Kagawa University will be deployed. Once in orbit, the satellite is designed to unreel a wire net some 300 metres long that will then generate a magnetic field and – theoretically – attract some of the debris that is circulating beyond our atmosphere.

And there is a growing need for outer space to undergo a good clean-up, with experts estimating that 100 million bits of man-made junk are zipping around the earth. Of that total, some 22,000 are believed to measure 10 cm or larger and are therefore considered dangerous. The majority of the debris is in a band between 700 kilometers and 1,000 kilometers above the surface of the planet, mostly parts of obsolescent and degrading satellites and rockets. Out of control and impossible to accurately monitor, even the smallest piece of detritus – a single bolt, for example – could have a catastrophic result if it collides with a functioning satellite or the International Space Station, which has a permanent human crew aboard. A recent study in the U.S. suggested that a collision between two satellites could trigger an “uncontrolled chain reaction” that could destroy the communications network on earth.

“We started work on this project about five years ago and we are all excited to see the outcome of this first test,” Koji Ozaki, the engineer who heads the development team at Hiroshima-based Nitto Seimo, told the South China Morning Post. The net is a mere 30cm wide when it is unspooled and made of three strong and very flexible lengths of metal fiber, Ozaki said. Taking advantage of the company’s experience in the fishing industry, a net measuring 1 kilometer long has already been fabricated at Nitto Seimo’s factory. “Fishing nets need to be extremely strong because they need to be able to hold a large number of fish, but our tether does not have to be that strong,” he said. “It is more important that it is flexible.”

Reports first emerged about the project three years ago, but there were no confirmations about it being tested. The upcoming test is designed to confirm that when a magnetic field is passed through the net, it is able to attract pieces of orbiting debris. Gradually, over the space of about one year, the net and the junk that it has collected will descend closer to Earth and burn up in the frictional heat generated when it reaches the atmosphere. In the future, Jaxa plans to use space craft to attach nets to larger pieces of space junk – rocket engines or satellites that are no longer operational – and let gravity and the atmosphere complete the task of eradicating the threat. Jaxa is planning further trials next year and a functioning system could be deployed as early as 2019. –SCMP

The sun's magnetic field is about to flip upside down as it reverses its polarity.   In August Nasa said the reversal would happen in three to four months time, although it would be impossible to pinpoint a more specific date.  Solar physicist Todd Hoeksema from Stanford University said that the reversal would have "ripple effects" across the whole of the solar system.

According to Nasa the sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years.  In comparison the last time the Earth's magnetic field flipped was almost 800,000 years ago. When this happens the opposing magnetic poles switch places so the magnetic field is flipped. The pole reversal happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's "inner magnetic dynamo" reorganises itself. The exact internal mechanism that drives the magnetic shift is not yet entirely understood by researchers, although the sun's magnetic field has been monitored on a daily basis by Scientists at Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory. This will be the fourth such shift that the observatory has monitored.

Throughout the 11 year solar cycle new polarity builds up as 'sunspots' which are areas of intense magnetic activity that appear as blotches near the equator of the sun's surface. Over a month long period these sunspots disintegrate and the intense magnetic activity migrates from the sun's equator to one of the sun's poles. According to Hoeksema as the magnetic field moves towards the pole it erodes the existing opposite polarity. He said: "It's kind of like a tide coming in or going out, each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal."

As to what effect this may have, scientists said it could be widespread. The sun's magnetic field exerts its influence in a wide space, known as the heliosphere. The heliosphere stretches well beyond Pluto and is as far reaching as NASA's Voyager probes close to the edge of interstellar space. During a magnetic flip the sun is also typically at its peak. Another possible impact is that the sun's altered magnetic field could interact with the Earth's own magnetic field which could increase the number and range of auroras. It could also have an effect on power distribution grids and GPS satellites.

However the Sun's magnetic 'flip' could also help protect the Earth. During the reversal the sun's 'current sheet' becomes wavy. The current sheet is a surface that jets outwards from the sun's equator. A more wavy current sheet acts as a better barrier to deflect cosmic rays which can be a danger to astronauts and space probes. Some scientists say that cosmic rays can also affect the Earth's climate and level of cloudiness. It will certainly help those hoping to glimpse the spectacular northern lights.

Scientists won't know for the next three weeks whether the flip is complete.

Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1-class solar flare from sunspot AR1875 on Oct. 28th at 0203 UT. This is the 3rd X-flare since Oct. 25th, which means solar activity is still high. Stay tuned for more information about the latest eruption.

A state of the art satellite is being sent into space to monitor the blind zone between the Earth and the sun to warn of incoming asteroids.  Astronomers have previously not been able to spot asteroids in the 'blind zone' due to radiation from the sun blocking information.  But now The European Space Agency intends to launch the Gaia Space Telescope with its key task being to monitor the area between the Earth and the sun and warn of any impending collisions. One recent asteroid which could have been spotted as it travelled through the 'blind zone' months before it collided with the Earth, was that of the Russian asteroid of February this year which caused a spectacular fireball before smashing into Chelyabinsk, 900 miles east of Russia.

Gerry Gilmore, professor of experimental philosophy at Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy told the Sunday Times: "Gaia will measure all the asteroids including those between us and the sun which are the really nasty ones because we can't see them."

During its five-year-mission the £800 million Gaia will also map the stars with unprecedented precision - giving astronomers the first accurate 3D map of our galaxy and measure distance between the stars.   A spokseman for the ESA said: "During its anticipated lifetime of five years, Gaia will observe each of its 1billion sources about 70 times, resulting in a record of the brightness and position of each source over time.

"Together with the unprecedented accuracy of the astrometric measurements, this will lead to the discovery of planets around other stars, asteroids in our Solar System, icy bodies in the outer Solar System, brown dwarfs, and far-distant supernovae and quasars.  The list of Gaia's potential discoveries makes the mission unique in scope and scientific return."

The satellite completed final preparations in Europe last year and will take off from a launch site in French Guiana on November 20.

http://www.sott.net/article/267825-Asteroid-fear-Gaia-satellite-sent-into-space-to-monitor-blind-zone-between-sun-and-Earth

In two months, Comet ISON will make a spectacular flyby of the sun. First, though, it has to fly by Mars. The sungrazing comet is approaching the Red Planet for a 0.07 AU close encounter on October 1st. Mars satellites and rovers will have a close-up view. A video from NASA details the encounter. Amateur astronomers on Earth can watch, too. Using a remotely controlled 14-inch telescope in New Mexico, Rolando Ligustri photographed ISON approaching Mars on September 28th:

At closest approach on October 1st, Mars and Comet ISON will be approximately 2o apart. While Mars is visible to the unaided eye (it shines almost as brightly as a first-magnitude star), ISON is definitely not. The comet is still far from the sun and, as it crosses the orbit of Mars, it has not yet warmed enough to reach naked-eye visibility. Reports of the comet's brightness vary from 12th to 14th magnitude, which means a mid-sized backyard telescope is required to see it.

Mars and ISON rise together in the eastern sky a couple of hours before the sun. Amateur astronomers, if you have a GOTO telescope, enter these coordinates. Visually, Mars will be easy to find on the mornings of closest approach, because the planet is relatively bright, and also because the crescent Moon will be passing right by it. Sky maps: Sept. 28, 29, 30; Oct. 1, 2.

New images of the comet are coming in every day. Browse the gallery for the latest views: Realtime Comet ISON Photo Gallery
www.spaceweather.com

EARTH-DIRECTED CME: June 28th began with a double solar flare. Magnetic fields around sunspots AR1777 and AR1778 erupted in quick succession between 0130 UT and 0345 UT, producing two C-class (C4, C7) flares. A CME emerging from the sprawling blast site appears to be heading for Earth, although not squarely.

An analysis of this complicated event is still underway. It is possible that Earth's magnetic field will receive a glancing blow from the CME on or about June 30th. The impact could cause minor geomagnetic storms.

SOLAR OBSERVATORY LAUNCHED: NASA's newest space telescope, a unique solar observatory named "IRIS", is orbiting Earth today following a successful launch on June 27th at 7:27 pm PDT. Leaving from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, an Orbital L-1011 aircraft carried IRIS inside a Pegasus XL rocket out over the Pacific Ocean, where the rocket separated from the belly of the airplane and blasted into space. The rocket's exhaust created a beautiful sunset display along the central California coast:

Mike O'Leary took the picture from El Cajon, CA. "Sunlight passing through ice crystals formed from the exhaust of the Pegasus rocket created a beautiful twilight effect." According to another onlooker, Thom Peck of Poway, California, the iridescent colors lasted until at least 9:30 pm PDT.

IRIS is on a mission to study the "interface region," a layer of the sun's atmosphere where most solar ultraviolet radiation is generated. Researchers are keen to study the interface region because it is probably the energy source for the sun's mysteriously-hot outer corona.

A good way to understand IRIS's uniqueness is to compare it to NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). While SDO sees the entire sun, IRIS going to look closely at only 1 percent of the sun's surface, discerning features as small as 150 miles across. "IRIS almost acts as a microscope to SDO's telescope," explains mission manager Jim Hall.

"IRIS will show the solar chromosphere in more detail than has ever been observed before," says Adrian Daw, deputy project scientist. "My opinion is that we are bound to see something we didn't expect to see."
www.spaceweather.com

A new and unique solar observatory is poised to leave Earth today (27 June 2013). IRIS (the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph) will blast off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base onboard a Pegasus XL rocket at 7:27 p.m. PDT. A modified L-1011 airliner will carry the rocket to 39,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean where the plane will drop the Pegasus to begin the launch.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is known as the finest solar telescope ever launched into space. IRIS is equally capable, but in its own way. "IRIS almost acts as a microscope to SDO's telescope," explains mission manager Jim Hall. While SDO sees the entire sun, IRIS going to look closely at about 1 percent of the sun's surface, discerning features as small as 150 miles across.

IRIS will pay special attention to a thin layer of the sun's atmosphere called the "interface region" where most of the sun’s ultraviolet emission is generated. Researchers are keen to study this layer because it is probably the energy source for the sun's mysteriously-hot outer corona.

"IRIS will show the solar chromosphere in more detail than has ever been observed before," says Adrian Daw, deputy project scientist. "My opinion is that we are bound to see something we didn't expect to see." Stay tuned!  www.spaceweather.com

RADIATION STORM: A minor solar proton storm is underway around Earth. Registering "S1" on NOAA storm scales, the storm is not yet intense enough to have a significant effect on satellites or air travelers. It is, however, trending upward, so the situation could change.

M-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot AR1778 produced an impulsive M2-class solar flare on June 23rd at 20:56 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash: [go to http://spaceweather.com/ to watch brief video of flash]

The eruption flung material away from the blast site, but the debris does not appear to be heading toward Earth. Except for the effects of the UV flash, which created a short-lived wave of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere, this flare was not geo-effective.

More flares could be in the offing. In addition to AR1778, sunspots AR1775 and AR1776 have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for significant eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares on June 24th.  www.spaceweather.com