Posts tagged New Mexico
Ma Nature’s sky light show on the way
Jan 9th
University of Colorado Boulder space weather experts say a powerful solar storm may cause the aurora borealis to light up as far south as Colorado and New Mexico in the coming nights.
http://youtu.be/Ip2ZGND1I9Q
Aurora borealis may dip into state
tonight, say CU-Boulder experts
Daniel Baker, director of CU-Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said space weather forecasts indicate there is a good chance a coronal mass ejection tied to a large solar flare from the sun Tuesday may impact Earth today, hitting the planet’s outer magnetic shield and causing spectacular light displays tonight and perhaps tomorrow night. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts have estimated there is a 90 percent chance a coronal mass ejection will hit Earth today.
“The aurora borealis, or ‘false dawn of the north,’ are brilliant dancing lights in the night sky caused by intense interactions of energetic electrons with the thin gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere,” said Baker. “The aurora are most commonly seen in Alaska, northern Canada and Scandinavia when the sun sends out powerful bursts of energy that can strike Earth’s protective outer magnetic shield called the magnetosphere,” he said.
“The strong solar winds associated with the storm events generate strong electric currents when they blow by the Earth’s magnetosphere,” said LASP Research Associate Bill Peterson. “These currents become unstable and drive processes in the magnetosphere that accelerate electrons down magnetic field lines where they hit the atmosphere over the poles.”
“One can think of aurora in some ways as if the Earth’s atmosphere is a giant TV screen and the magnetosphere generates intense beams of electrons that blast down along magnetic field lines to produce the red and green light picture show,” said Baker. “If the sun produces extremely powerful energy outbursts, the aurora can move to much lower latitudes than normal and then one can see the fantastic light displays in the lower 48 states, even as low in latitude as Colorado and New Mexico.”
According to Peterson, geophysicists have been measuring magnetic activity – essentially “wiggles” on instruments measuring Earth’s magnetic field – for over a century. The scientists have come up with a planetary magnetic index known as KP, ranging from 0 (quiet) to 9 (very active).
“The aurora is typically seen in Canada for KP less than 4,” Peterson said. “When the KP is 9, auroras can sometimes be seen as far south as Mexico City. Auroras are seen in Colorado when the KP is about 7.”
Peterson suggested those interested in seeing the northern lights or want to report sightings visithttp://www.aurorasaurus.org, a website called “Aurorasaurus” and led by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The site is designed as a real-time map of confirmed aurora sightings and includes a place for citizen-scientists who want to participate to report aurora sightings in their own neighborhoods.
For additional information visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov. For more information on LASP visit http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/.
-CU-
Steur and Aiello shine at Lobo Invitational
Nov 4th
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – University of Colorado junior Julyette Steur and sophomore Alex Aiello each won their respective singles bracket championships at the three-day University of New Mexico Invitational Sunday morning.
The weekend event also had teams from New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Grand Canyon, Texas-El Paso, and Texas Tech.
With the pair of title wins, the Buffaloes also tacked on another pair of victories to claim third place finishes by freshman Nuria Ormeño Ruiz and Winde Janssens, also played during the morning session.
The four wins on the day improved CU’s three-day Lobo Invite singles record to 13-5.
“I’m really happy of the level competition we played against on the third day,” said CU head coach Nicole Kenneally. “We had solid performances and it was a great effort by Alex and Julyette for winning their flights. Overall, it was a solid three days of competition and a good weekend in all CU sports. Congratulations to the cross country team’s success, as well as volleyball and soccer.”
Steur won her third straight match as she defeated Priscilla Annoual of Grand Canyon, 6-2, 7-5 to win the Cherry Singles Bracket. Steur improves to 5-1 this season.
In the third place match, freshman Nuria Ormeño Ruiz rallied from a set down to edge Davina Meza (Texas-El Paso) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ormeño Ruiz won her eighth match of her initial season with the Buffs and for the second time, successfully won a match when pushed to three sets.
In the Silver Singles Bracket, Aiello was also pushed to three sets defeating New Mexico’s Emily Oliver, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Aiello won her fifth straight and now has won eight of 10 matches already this fall campaign. She remains perfect in three set matches at 3-0.
The Buffaloes also claimed another third place tally in the Silver Bracket as senior Winde Janssens defeated Texas Tech’s Sarah Toti, 6-3, 6-1. Janssens win was her 44th of her career moving into 34th overall on the all-time CU singles list.
CU came up short in the Turquoise Singles Bracket as junior Ashley Tiefel lost in the finals to Texas Tech’s Beatriz Santos, 6-2, 6-2, and senior Carla Manzi Tenorio lost to UNM’s Rachana Bhat for third place, 6-1, 6-1.
The Buffs looks to continue their strong fall play in the final tournament of the season next weekend at the Western Michigan Invitational in Kalamazoo, Nov. 8-10.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
CU’s X-men and X-women both rise in Cross Country standings
Oct 8th
NEW ORLEANS – The University of Colorado men’s cross country team held strong at second in the USTFCCCA Top-30 Coaches’ Poll this week for the second straight week, while the women moved up two positions to 12th overall.
The CU men are once again the top Pac-12 program in the poll. They picked up 341 points this week and finished 19 points behind Oklahoma State. The Cowboys recorded a perfect score of 360 points with all 12 first-place votes this week. Northern Arizona remained at third with 335 points and Oregon stayed at fourth this week with 326 points.
Providence continues to be the top team in the women’s poll. The Friars received 359 points with 11 of the 12 first-place votes this week. Florida State held strong at second (342) and Arizona stayed at third this week. The Wildcats also received the final first-place vote for a total of 340 points.
The regional rankings were released on Monday and have both the men and women ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Mountain Region. The men are above Northern Arizona and the women are in front of New Mexico.
The Buffs are off until October 19 when they will compete at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational at Terre Haute, Ind. Indiana State will once against host the NCAA Championships (November 23) and this meet offers teams a chance to preview the course.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]