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Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts

Friday, May 18, 2012

The Great Pleiadian Eclipse Alignment - May 20, 2012


On May 20, 2012, for the first time in 26,000 years, the Sun and Moon, and the constellation responsible for our spiritual evolution and ascension, the mystic Pleiades, will align in a spectacular, full Annular Solar Eclipse and a rare solar eclipse alignment will happen between the Earth, the Sun and, our central Sun, Alcyone in the Pleiades Constellation. 
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun, causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring), blocking most of the Sun's light. An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region thousands of kilometres wide.
The annular phase will be visible from the Chinese coast, northern Taiwan, the south of Japan, and the western part of the United States and CanadaGuangzhouTaipeiTokyo and Albuquerque will be on the central path. Its maximum will occur in the North Pacific, south of the Aleutian islands for 5 min and 46.3 s, and finish in the western United States.



Times and locations of full and partial sightings 
:http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2012-may-20

“The Pyramid of the Sun outside Mexico City at Teotihuacan is said to be aligned with the Pleiades, for its west face and many of the surrounding streets were aligned directly with the setting point of the Pleiades on midnight of the night when it is at its highest point. The Pleiades was clearly revered also by the Mayans, who in the area of Chichen Itza knew that the Sun casts a snake-like shadow on the side of the north stairway of the Kukulcan pyramid during the spring equinox. Some scholars have calculated that about 60 days after this shadow’s appearance, when the sun reaches its zenith over the Pyramid at mid-day (May 20 – May 23), there is another direct alignment with the Pleiades. This Pleiades-sun alignment may have a direct connection with Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent that came to bring a greater wisdom to the planet.
The ancient Egyptians also singled out the Pleiades as a female goddess, probably most often recognized as Neith, the “divine mother”, or Hathor, who took on the form of a cow (who carried the seeds of life). Pyramidologists working in Egypt in the last twelve years have found pyramidal texts that suggest the Egyptians revered the Pleiades as a higher divine star system, especially Alcyone, its brightest star.”




Sunday, May 13, 2012

Scientists Stumped By Sun's Asymmetrically Reversing Magnetic Field


Sun

The Sun's magnetic field is reversing, South becoming North, as it does approximately every 11 years on a cycle, but this time, something even stranger is going on: The North is moving much faster than the South, and space scientists aren't sure why. 
"Right now, there's an imbalance between the north and the south poles," Jonathan Cirtain, NASA's project scientist for a Japanese solar mission called Hinode, in a recentarticle on NASA's website. "The north is already in transition, well ahead of the south pole, and we don't understand why." 

Further, the asymmetrically reversing solar magnetic field could have an effect on Earth, resulting in increased solar flares and the accompanying bursts of radioactive particlescalled "coronal mass ejections," or CMEs, that can hit Earth and cause brilliant Northern Lights displays and problematic geomagnetic solar storms, according to NASA scientists.

"This usually leads to a double peak in the sunspot number and CME rate as a function of time," Nat Gopalswamy, a solar scientist NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in an email to TPM.

Gopalswamy and his team studied the Sun's shifting magnetic field from microwave signatures obtained by Japanese radio telescopes and reported their findings in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal on April 9.

Gopalswamy explained that while the Sun's shifting magnetic poles were first discovered in 1955, the rate at which the North and South wasn't found to be mismatched until the last few solar cycles.

To be clear, the magnetic field doesn't just flip, but rather, the Sun essentially sheds its current magnetic field and regrows a new one every 11 years. Currently, the Northern portion of the Sun is further along on this process than its Southern counterpart.

Further, the Sun's oddly shifting magnetic field affects the Solar System, though it isn't yet known just how.

"Whether the north pole of the Sun has north or south polarity decides the entry point of galactic cosmic rays into the heliosphere," Gopalswamy told TPM.

The heliosphere is an enormous magnetic bubble made up of the continual regular ejection of charged particles from the Sun. It stretches beyond Pluto.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/244654-Scientists-Stumped-By-Sun-s-Asymmetrically-Reversing-Magnetic-Field

Thursday, May 10, 2012

SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES


SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES: Huge sunspot AR1476 is crackling with M-class solar flares and appears to be on the verge of producing something even stronger. The sunspot's 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field harbors energy for X-class flares, the most powerful kind. Earth is entering the line of fire as the sunspot rotates across the face of the sun.
This morning, May 10th around 0418 UT, sunspot 1476 unleashed an impulsive M5-class solar flare.


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Transit Of Venus


ECLIPSES DURING 2012


The first solar eclipse of 2012 occurs at the Moon's descending node in central Taurus. An annular eclipse will be visible from a 240 to 300 kilometre-wide track that traverses eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the western United States. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, that includes much of Asia, the Pacific and the western 2/3 of North America

Partial phases of the eclipse are visible primarily from the USA, Canada, the Pacific and East Asia


The first lunar eclipse of 2012 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in southern Ophiuchus about 6° northeast of Antares (mv = +1.07). It is best seen from locations in and near the Pacific Ocean.Most of the Americas will experience moonset before the eclipse ends while eastern Asia will miss the beginning of the eclipse because it occurs before moonrise. The Moon's contact times with Earth's shadows are listed below.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 08:48:09 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 09:59:53 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 11:03:13 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 12:06:30 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 13:18:17 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 12:14:58 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 14:33:00 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 16:51:02 UT

At the instant of greatest eclipse the umbral eclipse magnitude will reach 0.3705. At that time the Moon will be at the zenith for observers in the South Pacific. In spite of the fact that just a third of the Moon enters the umbral shadow (the Moon's southern limb dips 12.3 arc-minutes into the umbra), the partial phase still lasts over 2 hours.

 

The second solar eclipse of 2012 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in central Libra. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow crosses the South Pacific Ocean where it makes no landfall except for northern Australia. The Moon's penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand), southern South America, and part of Antarctica.


The last lunar eclipse of 2012 is a deep penumbral eclipse with a magnitude of 0.9155. It should be easily visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading in the northern half of the Moon. The times of the major phases are listed below.
Note that the beginning and end of a penumbral eclipse are not visible to the eye. In fact, no shading can be detected until about 2/3 of the Moon's disk is immersed in the penumbra. This would put the period of eclipse visibility from approximately 14:00 to 15:00 UT. Keep in mind that this is only an estimate. Atmospheric conditions and the observer's visual acuity are important factors to consider. An interesting exercise is to note when penumbral shading is first and last seen.




Saturday, April 21, 2012

Tonight is the peak of the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower



April 22, 2012 Lyrids
The Lyrid meteors – April’s “shooting stars” – tend to be bright and often leave trails. About 10-20 meteors per hour at peak can be expected. Plus, the Lyrids are known for uncommon surges that can sometimes bring the rate up to 100 per hour. Those rare outbursts are not easy to predict, but they’re one of the reasons the tantalizing Lyrids are worth checking out. The radiant for this shower is in the constellation Lyra, which rises in the northeast at about 10 p.m. Fortunately, in 2012, the new moonguarantees a dark sky in the late night and morning hours, the best time to watch the Lyrid shower. As a general rule, the greatest number of Lyrid meteors fall in the dark hours before dawn. The optimal night will probably be from late night April 21 until dawn April 22, though the night before or after (April 21/22 and April 22/23) might also offer a sprinkling of Lyrid meteors. With no moon to obscure this year’s display, we are assured of dark skies for the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower!




EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2012


Thursday, April 12, 2012

6.9 Earthquake Hits Santa Isabel on the Gulf of California Mexico

10-degree map showing recent earthquakes
Legend with age and magnitude scale

  • This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude6.9
Date-Time
Location28.790°N, 113.142°W
Depth10.3 km (6.4 miles)
RegionGULF OF CALIFORNIA
Distances133 km (82 miles) NE of Guerrero Negro, Baja Calif. Sur, Mexico
179 km (111 miles) NNW of Santa Rosalia, Baja Calif. Sur, Mexico
215 km (133 miles) W of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
526 km (326 miles) SSW of PHOENIX, Arizona
Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 18.1 km (11.2 miles); depth +/- 4.1 km (2.5 miles)
ParametersNST=331, Nph=331, Dmin=216 km, Rmss=1.32 sec, Gp=162°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=D
Source
  • Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
    Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hail ravages North Texas, shuts down highway US 287


Three to four feet of hail is being reported on U.S. 287 near the Canadian River, according to the Potter County Sheriff's Office.
That's prompting the highway to be shut down by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The Potter County Sheriff's Office also confirmed there were reports of buried motor vehicles prompting rescues.
DPS said its units are reporting low visibilities in the area. The main part of the hail is being reported four miles north of the Canadian River near the Fain Plant.
Officials said it is not known how long the road will be closed because parts of it are washed out.

7.0 Earthquake hits Michoacan, Mexico


  • 10-degree map showing recent earthquakes
  • Legend with age and magnitude scale

  • This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude7.0
Date-Time
Location18.390°N, 102.652°W
Depth65.6 km (40.8 miles)
RegionMICHOACAN, MEXICO
Distances69 km (42 miles) NW of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico
129 km (80 miles) SSW of Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico
143 km (88 miles) NW of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico
384 km (238 miles) WSW of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 16.7 km (10.4 miles); depth +/- 12 km (7.5 miles)
ParametersNST=404, Nph=404, Dmin=210.4 km, Rmss=0.87 sec, Gp= 72°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=A
Source
  • Magnitude: NOAA, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
    Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)