One Night in Equador

Check out this amazing video. As the Milky Way drifts by, watch various satellites streak by and, near the end of the 98 sec. clip, the lights of mountain climbers on the mile-high Cotopaxi Volcano. As usual, the clip is from the wonderful APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day web site. I'm there everyday. Bookmark it here.

Don't Forget Your Sunscreen!

EXPLANATION FROM THE EDITORS OF ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY: Sometimes part of the Sun can just explode into space. These explosions might occur as powerful solar flares, coronal mass ejections, or comparatively tame eruptive solar prominences. Pictured above is one of the largest solar prominence eruptions yet observed, one associated with a subsequent coronal mass ejection. The prominence erupted last month and was recorded by several Sun-sensing instruments, including the recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The above time lapse sequence was captured by SDO and occurred over a few hours. In recent months, our Sun has becoming increasingly active, following a few years of an unusually dormant solar minimum. Over the next few years our Sun is expected to reach solar maximum and exhibit a dramatic increase in sunspots and all types of solar explosions.