INFO FROM SIDC - RWC BELGIUM 2014 Oct 03 12:20:19
Late on 2 October, a long duration M1.5 flare was quickly followed by a
powerful M7.3 flare, thus ending a 36 hours drought in flaring activity.
The two flares peaked resp. at 17:44UT and 19:01UT, and had their source in
the sunspot complex NOAA 2172/2173 which was rounding the west limb at that
time. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux stayed at nominal levels, and the
associated CME was directed to the southwest with no Earth-directed
component observed based on currently available imagery.
In the wake of the two medium flares, NOAA 2172/2173 produced a series of
C-class flares, the strongest being a C9.0 flare peaking at 06:48UT. The
x-ray background flux is still at the C1-level, but is expected to decrease
as the trailing portion of NOAA 2172 will have rounded the west limb later
today. The other 8 sunspot regions have a fairly simple magnetic
configuration, and have been quiet.
C-class flaring is expected, with a small chance on an M-class flare from
behind the west limb from NOAA 2172/2173. Solar wind speed varied mostly between 350 and 400 km/s, and Bz fluctuated
between -5 and +4 nT. Geomagnetic conditions were quiet to unsettled, and
are expected to remain so.Daily Archives: October 4, 2014
Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula in the constellationVulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light years.
This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered; by Charles Messier in 1764. At its brightness of visual magnitude 7.5 and its diameter of about 8 arcminutes, it is easily visible in binoculars, and a popular observing target in amateur telescopes.
The Dumbbell Nebula appears to be shaped like an prolate spheroid and is viewed from our perspective along the plane of its equator. In 1992, Moreno-Corral et al. computed that its rate of expansion in the plane of the sky was no more than 2.3″ per century. From this, an upper limit to the age of 14,600 yr may be determined. In 1970, Bohuski, Smith, and Weedman found an expansion velocity of 31 km/s. Given its semi-minor axis radius of 1.01 ly, this implies that the kinematic age of the nebula is some 9,800 years.
Like many nearby planetary nebulae, the Dumbbell contains knots. Its central region is marked by a pattern of dark and bright cusped knots and their associated dark tails (see picture). The knots vary in appearance from symmetric objects with tails to rather irregular tail-less objects. Similarly to the Helix Nebula and the Eskimo Nebula, the heads of the knots have bright cusps which are local photoionizationfronts.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Meade LX200 12″ GPS Pier mount
Imaging cameras: QSI 640 WSG-8
Mounts: Meade LX200 fork mount standard fork mount
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Borg 101ED/F6.4
Guiding cameras: SBIG STi-C
Focal reducers: Starizona SCT Corrector f/7.5
Software: Cyanogen Maxim DL5, Software Bisque TheSky
Filters: Astronomik Ha 12nm, Asronomik OIII , Astronomic SII 12nm
Accessories: Shoestring Astronomy FCUSB, Focuser JMI EVN-2
Resolution: 2048×2048
Dates: Oct. 1, 2014
Locations: Home Observatory
Frames: 33×300″
Integration: 2.8 hours
Avg. Moon age: 6.54 days
Avg. Moon phase: 41.10%
RA center: 299.901 degrees
DEC center: 22.708 degrees
Pixel scale: 0.722 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: -10.793 degrees
Field radius: 0.291 degrees
Autor: Ray G, 04.10.2014