SPOTLESS SUNS

On Tuesday April 2, NASA announced that the sun has plunged into the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Sunspots have all but vanished and consequently the sun has become very quiet. In 2008, the sun had no spots 73% of the time, a 95-year low. In 2009, sunspots are even more scarce, with the "spotless rate" jumping to 87%. We are currently experiencing a stretch of 25 continuous days uninterrupted by sunspots--and there's no end in sight.This is a big event, but it is not unprecedented. Similarly deep solar minima were common in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and each time the sun recovered with a fairly robust solar maximum. That's probably what will happen in the present case, although no one can say for sure. This is the first deep solar minimum of the Space Age, and the first one we have been able to observe using modern technology. Is it like others of the past? Or does this solar minimum have its own unique characteristics that we will discover for the first time as the cycle unfolds? These questions are at the cutting edge of solar physics.You can monitor the progress of solar minimum with a new "Spotless Days Counter" on spaceweather.com. Instead of counting sunspots, we're counting no sunspots. Daily updated totals tell you how many spotless days there have been in a row, in this year, and in the entire solar cycle. Comparisons to historical benchmarks put it all in perspective. Visit http://spaceweather.com for data.

more quaking

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake has been felt in Melbourne and eastern Victoria, 12 days after a similar tremor.
The tremor occurred about 5km northeast of Korumburra, 100km southeast of Melbourne, at 4.28pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.
The epicentre is in the same area of an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter scale which hit on March 6.
The Seismology Research Centre said an aftershock sequence is expected to continue.
There have been no reports of damage and it is unlikely an earthquake of this magnitude and depth will cause any significant damage, the centre's website said.

Roo crash

A kangaroo has crashed through the bedroom window of a Canberra family's home before terrorising its unsuspecting occupants.The family, from the suburb of Garran in Canberra's south, were awoken in the early hours of Sunday when their pet dog began barking from the garden.Moments later, a kangaroo burst through a three metre high window of the house's master bedroom and onto the bed where Beat Ettlin, his partner Verity Beman and their nine-year-old daughter Beatrix lay."My initial thought when I was half awake was: it's a lunatic ninja coming through the window," Mr Ettlin told The Associated Press."It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in."While the family took refuge under the blankets, the injured animal proceeded to jump on top of them, gouging holes in the furniture and smearing blood all over the walls.The next thing Mr Ettlin heard was his 10-year-old son Leighton screaming from his bed: "There's a 'roo in my room!'""I thought, this can be really dangerous for the whole family now," the 42-year-old said.A chef, originally from the Swiss city of Stans, Mr Ettlin followed the thrashing and bleeding two metre tall marsupial and wrestled it into a headlock before dragging it down the hallway and out the front door.Left wearing just his shredded underpants and with scratch marks on his leg and buttocks, Mr Ettlin described himself as "lucky"."I had just my Bonds undies on. I felt vulnerable," he said.As quickly as it had come, the kangaroo vanished into a nearby reserve and the family reported the intrusion to police and wildlife authorities.
Ms Beman praised her husband's courage and said she didn't know many men who would go head-to-head with a kangaroo."I think he's a hero, a hero in Bonds undies," she said.

Quaking Melbourne

Victoria's east has been rocked by an earth tremor,on 6/3/09 in the evening with residents reporting Melbourne buildings shaking across the metropolitan area.Geoscience Australia, which monitors earthquake activity, said the tremor measured magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale , with the epicentre at Korumburra, about 90 kilometres south-east of Melbourne .The quake happened just before 9:00pm AEDT, and while there were no reports of injury, 000, media outlets and the Bureau of Meteorology were flooded with calls from people wanting to know what had happened.John Schneider, from Geoscience Australia, says the the region has not seen an earthquake of that magnitude in over a decade."The last earthquake of any significant size in that area was the magnitude 5 earthquake at Thomson Reservoir in 1996," he said.Terry Ryan from the Bureau of Meteorology says the quake was felt far from its epicentre."Mainly out to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and places like Pakenham, Wonthaggi, towards Phillip Island ... have reported more sort of movement than the west," he said.Allan Griggs, from the State Emergency Service (SES), says 10 crews were sent to respond to calls for help with minor property damage."There's no reports of injury to the SES, however we have received approximately 30 calls for assistance across the state this evening," he said."Most of the calls have come from the Melbourne metropolitan area ... crews are now out just assessing the damage to these properties."It is reported as minor damage at this stage."Heather McPherson, of Launching Place, was one of the many people who felt the earth move."I nearly fell over," she said."I'm an artist and all my paintings fell off the wall - I had canvasses everywhere."I came out to pick them up and I had this shudder go through the floor."I've never felt anything like it in my life, I could barely stand up."James Sandman, of Drouin in Victoria's east, was watching TV at the time."The whole house absolutely shook, like the foundations shook," he said."The walls moved, they wobbled, and myself and my wife just looked at each other and we ... both then looked at the exits wondering do we need to get out."Greg Cotton was in his apartment in South Yarra at the time."It lasted for what seemed to be about two or three seconds. It was significant," he said."I've never felt the floor move and move me, and I've lived in this particular building for 15 years."Police say no injuries or major damage have been reported so far.

COMET LULIN

Comet Lulin is approaching Earth and brightening rapidly. Observers say it is now visible to the naked eye as a faint (magnitude +5.6) gassy patch in the constellation Virgo before dawn. Even city dwellers have seen it. Backyard telescopes reveal a vivid green comet in obvious motion. Just yesterday, amateur astronomers watched as a solar wind gust tore away part of the comet's tail, the second time this month such a thing has happened. Lulin's closest approach to Earth (38 million miles) is on Feb. 24th; at that time the comet could be two or three times brighter than it is now.
photocourtesy of

PNG donates to Victoria's bush fire appeal

A remote Papua New Guinea village has donated money to the Victorian bushfire appeal almost a decade after Victorians came to their aid when a devastating tsunami killed thousands of locals.The small hospital town of Vanimo, in PNG's northwestern Sandaun province, gave 10,000 kina ($A5,567) to the Red Cross Victorian Bush Fire Appeal in a touching gesture of bonds forged through tragedy.The Aitape Tsunami in July 1998 killed more than 2,200 Sandaun villagers and made 10,000 homeless. But it was a medical team from Victoria's Monash Medical Centre, led by Dr Elizabeth Lewis, who were the first to help Vanimo's overstretched hospital.Vanimo Hospital chairman, Kevin Imba presented the cheque to Australia's High Commissioner to PNG, Chris Moraitis on Thursday in a small ceremony at the hospital."We want to pass on our deep thanks for what the people of Victoria have done for the people of Sandaun," Imba said."When we think of Australia we think fondly of Victoria and Victorians, so we offer our heartfelt condolences to those families affected in the recent bushfires."Moraitis said PNG's support of the Victorian Bushfire appeal was "touching"."This is an extraordinarily generous gesture by the board and staff of Vanimo Hospital," he said"You face significant logistical and operational challenges running this hospital here, yet you have found it in your hearts to help the families affected by the bushfires, so this donation is particularly touching," he said.Last week the PNG government gave $2 million to bushfire and flood relief, while locally PNG residents have been collecting money for the Red Cross appeal.More than 200 people died in what is Australia's worst bushfire disaster in history.The fires destroyed homes, towns and forest in southeastern Victoria.

This gesture by the people of PNG is more than touching because these people have less to give than most of the developed countries of the world . It is a truly spectacular thing for them to do.

Fire photos

The blaze approaches, heaven help that which is its path.The smoke is thick and the fire is a swirling inferno, a fire storm of unimaginable proportions


Burning trees and smoke fills the forrestThe courageous men and women of the volunteer, yes, thats volunteer, bush fire brigade
Firestorm going through the Bunyip state forrest.
The aftermath, burnt out cars at Marysville, an idylic spot in the mountains, no more, completely burnt out with many lives lost.