For Immediate Release

With just a few clicks, aurora watchers can go online and find out when to anticipate aurora activity and where they can see it. The Geophysical Institute Aurora Forecast Web page has undergone a major revamp to include a one-hour forecast, a 28-day forecast and much more, all found at http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast.

For Immediate Release

Tonight Alaskans will see the full moon glowing an eerie red due to a total lunar eclipse. Earth's shadow will completely consume the moon 30 minutes after it rises. It will appear red until about 7:45 p.m. and will slowly begin to fade as it moves out of Earth's shadow. By 9:00 p.m. the moon will have passed completely through Earth's shadow and will return to its normal color.

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Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will be teaming with those at ten other institutions to take part in the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission over the next six years. The mission, recently funded by NASA as part of the Small Explorer program, will study clouds at the edge of space to resolve why they form and why they have been increasing over the last 30 years.

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Another powerful solar flare has reached Earth on the heels of an enormous flare, giving Alaskans a great chance for aurora viewing in the next few nights. The most recent solar flare exploded from the surface of the sun at about 11:40 a.m. Alaska time, October 29, and researchers at the UAF Geophysical Institute say it arrived at Earth at about noon Alaska time, October 30.

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The 2002 Leonid meteor showers will be visible in Alaska the evening of Monday, November 18th, weather permitting. This year’s storm is forecasted to be up to two times more active than last year.

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The second largest geomagnetic storm on record has allowed people in mid-latitudes to see the aurora borealis and could possibly make for outstanding aurora viewing over Alaska through Saturday, November 22.

For Immediate Release

The Geophysical Institute has a professor and graduate student participating in the NASA hypervelocity re-entry campaign for the Stardust sample return capsule. The Stardust vehicle will release the capsule into Earth's atmosphere at 12:56 a.m. on Sunday, January 15. The capsule, containing interstellar dust from the Wild 2 comet, will re-enter at a whopping 28,600 miles per hour. This re-entry is the fastest in NASA history.

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The top honor at the National Radio Science Meeting’s 2004 Student Prize Paper Competition was awarded to Fernanda São Sabbas, a former graduate student working with Professor Davis Sentman at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The announcement was made last week in Boulder, Colorado.

For Immediate Release

New information about the Martian terrain suggests the Red Planet's surface once had water. High levels of hematite, a mineral associated with liquid water on Earth, were discovered on Mars last year. This important find suggests the possibility of ancient lakebeds or seas on the planet's surface and increases the odds that Mars once harbored life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, International Arctic Research Center, and Poker Flat Research Range will offer free public summer tours starting June 7.

The public can learn about the Alaska Satellite Facility and the Alaska Earthquake Information Center at a weekly tour being offered by the Geophysical Institute every Wednesday from June 7- August 30 at 2:30 p.m. in the institute’s Elvey Auditorium, room 214.