Good evening and welcome to tonight’s forecast, Star Date August 10, 23:06 UTC, complete with a minor Radio Blackout alert.
I’m sitting here back at the Weather Desk after an afternoon at one of my day gigs delivering groceries. Well, if you call them groceries. I don’t think Swiss Rolls are a food group. I am annoyed by the buzzing of deer flies, assuaged by the gentle chorus of crickets, and trying not to move too much in the Dog Days heat. Though that’s about impossible.
As the ancient ditty says, “For dog days bright and clear indicate a happy year, while accompanied by rain, our hopes are vain.”
I suppose this means that, despite the current drought, maybe things will be ok this winter.
Sirius and Orion will be large and in charge soon enough. This always seems like a great idea when it’s so hot like this, until it’s January and it’s not a great idea anymore.
We do have a chance at some aurora sighting on camera this evening, once it is dark, and if conditions hold. We are still dealing with a waning yet almost full moon, which will make things difficult. Tomorrow night might be a little bit better.
A Southern Hemisphere coronal hole is (sort of) facing Earth right now, which some models are predicting some Solar Wind headed our way over the next three days. We’re still seeing the tail end of what came to us over August 8-11, though it just hasn’t aligned well with daytime here on Earth, and the moon has made viewing difficult.
Here’s a pic from GOES, showing you what I’m talking about. This image comes to us from NOAA, and if you want to go to the Space Weather Enthusiasts Dashboard and look at the model there, here is the link.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/space-weather-enthusiasts-dashboard
We had a pretty decent radio blackout around noontime our time, while I was delivering Swiss Pies and gummy worms. It’s an odd world I inhabit: but, then again, you never know whether the next space phenomena discovery will come from someone struggling to find Little Debbie Cakes at Dollar Tree. I had to ask a sales associate.
And don’t miss the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter August 11-13 (especially the morning of the 12th. Low in the eastern sky, you’ll be able to see these two planets very close together. Best viewing time is just before dawn, so set your alarm for 4 am!
Whether aurora or no, the magic of the warm evenings beckons.