First Post!

Hey Folks!
There is a lot going on up in the heavens these days, what with all the classical planets known from ancient times visible from early to mid-evening, as well as a fairly bright circumpolar comet (Garradd) hovering at around mag. 6.5 just above the bowl of the Big Dipper. Now, to top all that, the Sun has started going crazy with flares and coronal mass ejections, creating all kinds of interesting effects to the earth's geomagnetic environment. If you haven't been following along for the last few days, a number of strong eruptions from the Sun's surface have been causing both minor and major auroral displays in both polar and, to some degree, middle latitudes. I just came in from a few hours of scanning for aurorae from just outside the city (42 degrees north) and can report seeing faint arcs and spikes low on the northern horizon even bathed in light from an almost full moon! It must be pretty spectacular farther north from here. Here's hoping the activity continues into next week, as the moon's light will become less and less of  a hindrance to seeing interesting displays! In the meantime, keep looking up!