Cometa IKEYA-MURAKAMI

Nou descoperita cometa  C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) ofera un spectacol bun pentru oricine are un telescop, o curte şi un ceas cu alarmă. Ceasul este pentru a va trezi înainte de zori, şi telescopul este pentru a o vedea, in aproprierea lui Saturn. 

Leonid Elenin a obtinut aceasta fotografie cu un telescop robotic in New Mexico.

ACTIVE SUNSPOT

 NOAA forecasters say there is a 70% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours. The source of the blast would be active region 1121 emerging over the sun's eastern limb:

Image credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory [larger image]

Indeed, AR1121 is already crackling with an M2-flare on Nov. 4th and an M1-flare on Nov. 5th. So far none of the flares has been geo-effective, but this could change as the sun's rotation turns the blast site toward Earth in the days ahead. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

Comet Hartley 2's nucleus

COMET ENCOUNTER UPDATE: NASA's Deep Impact (EPOXI) probe has just completed its 435 mile flyby of Comet Hartley 2's nucleus. The spacecraft has turned its high-gain antenna toward Earth and data are being transmitted to mission control at JPL. The first raw images have just arrived and, even without processing, they are spectacular:

The first five close-up images: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 

A press conference will be held this afternoon at 4 pm EDT to discuss the results and to reveal even higher-resolution images. Tune into NASA TV to follow events live.