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As the STEREO (Behind) spacecraft observed in extreme UV light, the Sun popped off no fewer than six eruptions over just two days (Aug. 14-15, 2010). At one point, three events were occurring at the same time. Most of these were eruptive prominences in which cooler clouds of gases above the surface break away from the Sun. The most powerful of the events, a coronal mass ejection, began around 6:30 UT on Aug. 15. It was harder to see from this spacecraft’s angle since it blasted out from the whiter active region in the lower center, so it had the Sun as its backdrop.

Courtesy of SOHO/STEREO consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Have a look at the video animation below, capturing the exponential increase of asteroid discoveries over time. The animation starts in 1980 when only a handful of objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter were known. As new asteroids are discovered they are added to the map and highlighted white so that they can be easily distinguished from already known ones.

* Earth Crossers are Red, Earth Approachers (Perihelion less than 1.3AU) are Yellow, All Others are Green

Notice how the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit. Most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun, when asteroids are close to opposition. At the time of opposition Main Belt Asteroids are not only closest to Earth in their orbit around the Sun, but also most of their surface is illuminated (when seen from the Earth) and therefore they are reaching their maximum brightness.

Furthermore, you’ll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons. Similar clusters of discoveries can be tied to the other outer planets, but those are not visible in this video.

As the video moves into the mid 1990′s we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you’ll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner.

At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that’s tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths.

Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates show no sign that we’re running out of undiscovered objects.

If you follow @flyingjenny, the incredible Space Shuttle Technician who’s started the Space Tweep Society, or if you’ve seen her daily entries in the Astrophoto gallery, then you know she’s been taking amazing photos of sunrise not far from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). What you might not have known (I only found out myself a few days ago) that she is going share this amazing photo collection with all of us:

I have amassed a nice collection of sunrise photos, some of which have elements that are unique to this location, such as plumes from pre-dawn launches that resemble fire-breathing dragons. I am going to combine the best of these photos into a book, and then pepper it with little bits of historical information about the structures that appear in some of the photos.

The book funding project is hosted on The Kickstarter and at the time of writing the project had 72 backers who had pledged almost $5,000 (see the details below).

Kennedy Space Center Sunrises - A Photo Book

The best part is that you’ll get your money back in the form of an e-book. Those who donate ($50 or) more will receive a hard-copy signed by the same hand that signs shuttle banners. And, of course, the higher your pledge the better the goodies that come with the book.

To make a pledge, simply visit the project website. As a freebie you can have a look at Jen’s amazing sunrise photo collection on flickr

Spot of light - Credit: Jen Scheer

Meteorwatch 2010 has now its own map displaying meteor observations. The map is quite similar to UKSnow by Ben Marsh but has a few additions/improvements. First of all, reporting is not restricted to just UK but works worldwide. Furthermore, once reports start to come in, the typical meteor icons will be accompanied by meteor animations created by the author of the Meteorwatch 2010 Trailer – Adrian West. Finally, the live day/night overlay is a neat touch to finish the map off.

Meteorwatch 2010 Map

To report meteors and have them added to the map simply send a tweet in the form of:

#meteorwatch [postcode] [country] [meteor count]

e.g. #meteorwatch e15 uk 5

For more information about the valid format see the bottom of the map page.

The first big meteor shower of the year is almost here. The 12th August is the annual maximum of the Perseids but the shower can be seen for some time either side of that date and it is worth looking out for them from the evening of 11th through to the morning of 13th August. This year, the Moon will set at early evening, leaving a dark sky for theshow. The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. These meteors are often bright and frequently leave persistent trains. This year, the maximum background activity is expected to reach ZHR = 110-120. Besides that, the Earth is expected to encounter a quite dense 441 trail fragment, which could increase the ZHR by 10-20.

After a tremendous success in 2009, the Twitter Meteorwatch will continue in 2010 with a few extra ways to participate. Apart from including #meteorwatch hash tag in your tweets, this year you will be able to add photos to the meteorwatch gallery* and see the meteor activity observed by other around the world using the meteorwatch map* (still under construction). Below is the long awaited Meteorwatch 2010 Trailer created by Adrian West / @VirtualAstro.

* … both of which are the reason I have not written a blog post in three weeks

Planetary observers love Mars. The Red Planet is easy to observe and changing surface markings can be seen with even a small telescope. Although the planet is hostile to life, the home to the largest volcano in the solar system, the deepest canyon and crazy weather and temperature patterns offers beautiful view of ice caps over the poles in white, regions covered with sand and gravel in dark brown and red, and large dust storms in light orange.

Damian Peach, one of the most prominent planetary astrophotographers, assembled a sequence of his photos during the latest apparition of Mars into a video below. The video displays, in high definition, a full rotation of the Red Planet (24.622 hours).

Visit Damian’s webpage for more amazing astrophotography.