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Weather for 13 Jul 2001 -- Comet Linear Flares!

COMET LINEAR FLARES:
Just yesterday Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) was fading from view as it receded from Earth. But now the volatile comet is once again a naked-eye object. Charles Morris of Fillmore, CA, saw it before dawn on Friday the 13th and noted "the comet is definitely in outburst [at magnitude 4.4]. There were two distinct tails, both at least 4 degrees in length." Comet LINEAR has a history of crumbling then flaring as freshly exposed ice is vaporized by sunlight. What will the comet do in the
days ahead? See for yourself! It's located in the constellation Pegasus, which is easy for northern sky watchers to find before dawn.

(finder chart) (ephemeris) (photo gallery) (3D orbit)

FRIDAY THE 13TH:
Today is a lucky day for stargazers because it marks the beginning of an extraordinary week-long planet show. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and the Moon will dazzle observers with a series of outrageous groupings in the pre-dawn sky between July 13th and 19th.

(Full Story)

ERUPTION!
After a week of little activity, the Sun showed signs of life Thursday morning when a large prominence erupted near the Sun's southwest limb. The explosion hurled an impressive coronal mass ejection into space, but apparently not toward our planet.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this ultraviolet image
of an erupting prominence at 0119 UT on July 12th.
From end to end the twisted loop of hot gas
spans more than 25 Earth-diameters.

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Current Conditions (updated: Today at 2345 UT)

Solar Wind velocity: 421.0 km/s
Density: 18.4 protons/cc.

X-ray Solar Flares (Updated: Today at 2340 UT)
6-hr max: B3 1910 UT Jul 13
24-hr: B6 0750 UT Jul 13

Radio Meteor Rate (Updated: 13 Jul 2001)
24 hr max: 40 per hr
(Listen to the Meteor Radar!)

Sunspot Count (updated: 12 Jul 2001)
Sunspot Number: 119

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Wavelength Shift for Moving Objects . . .

The wavelength of light emitted by a moving object is shifted. This effect is called the doppler shift.

Here is what the spectrum of a star that is moving toward us might look like.
(somewhat simplified)

Here is what the spectrum of a star that is moving away from us might look like.
(somewhat simplified)

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Dan