See Northern Lights Aurora Borealis In Colorado

Skywatchers were out in force in Northern Ireland on Friday night to see if they could spot the aurora borealis. Stephen Wallace took this photograph at Ballintoy, on the County Antrim coast.

The Northern Lights are caused by the interaction of the solar wind - a stream of charged particles escaping the Sun - and our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere. As the solar wind approaches, it distorts the Earth's magnetic field and allows some charged particles from the Sun to enter the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic north pole and the magnetic south pole. The solar wind can cause the Earth's magnetic field lines to disconnect from our planet. When these field lines "snap back" into position, charged particles from the solar wind are again pushed into the Earth's atmosphere, causing aurora. John Purvis captured this image at Portstewart, County Londonderry. 

Skywatchers in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland could see a display of the colourful northern lights on Friday and Saturday nights. The aurora borealis will appear as a faint glow or as shifting veils of light in the sky.

Any auroras that do occur will appear successively lower in the northern sky the farther south the observer is located. Auroras happen where the Earth’s atmosphere is struck by high-speed particles from the sun.

The stronger the compression of Earth’s magnetic field the further south the aurora will be seen, and the more active the display.

The first CME erupted from the sun on 9 September. It was thrown into space by an unusually long solar flare that lasted six hours. The first CME erupted from the sun on 9 September. It was thrown into space by an unusually long solar flare that lasted six hours.

New Iphone 6 Colors Release Date

Iphone 6 Colors

Live on stage, Apple has just kicked things off during its event by officially announcing the new iPhone lineup: the much rumored 4.7-inch device is called iPhone 6, while the larger 5.5-inch model is dubbed “iPhone 6 Plus”. Both of the new iPhone models include new “Retina HD” displays with cover glass that Apple says is ion-strengthened. The display on the iPhone 6 comes in at 1334 by 750 with 326 pixels per inch (over one million pixels), while the iPhone 6 Plus includes full 1080p HD with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 401 pixels per inch (over 2 million pixels).

The iPhone 6 Plus also includes an “optical image stabilization” feature that isn’t present on the iPhone 6. The front-facing camera also includes a new sensor and a larger ƒ/2.2 aperture, according to Apple.

Also a big new feature in the iPhone 6 is a barometer that Apple says senses air pressure to measure relative elevation. The iPhone 6 measures in at 6.9mm thin, while iPhone 6 Plus comes in a 7.1mm. Compare that to the previous generation iPhone 5S at 7.5mm.

Apple's eighth iPhone event introduced two new larger-screened, larger-capacity new phones, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, along with a continuation two of the world's top selling models, iPhone 5c and 5s, now at a reduced price.

iPhone 6 Event

The new pair of iPhone 6 models introduce a slim new form factor with rounded edges. iPhone 6, 6+ This is the sixth major iPhone redesign, following the aluminum original; two years of the plastic-backed iPhone 3G/3GS; two years of the 'Leica-inspired' glass and steel iPhone 4/4S; and two years of the chamfered-edge iPhone 5/5s, paired last year with the plastic iPhone 5c.


iPhone 5s, 6, 6+

The new 4.7 inch iPhone 6 feels only slightly larger than Apple's current iPhones, thanks to its slim profile and rounded edges, while the 6+ initially feels quite monstrously large. Of course, when iPhone 5 arrived it seemed quite large too, in comparison to the original 3.5 inch iPhone display, which debuted and long served as the largest mainstream phone.

In 2008, Samsung internally called Apple's original iPhone "monstrously large" and observed that many users would want something smaller. Apple also introduced a "Reachability" software feature that helps make the device usable in one hand as well.

Apple is offering both iPhone 6 models in the same Silver, Gold and Space Grey colors, each of which can be paired with Apple's leather or new silicon cases in a variety of colors.


iPhone 6 colors
The two new iPhone 6 displays. The new displays are not just bigger but also brighter and sharper, with more pixels and more pixel density in screens that Apple is calling "HD Retina." The iPhone 6 brains and cameras

Both new sizes include an improved camera sensor with "focus pixels" for rapid, accurate autofocus and continuous "cinematic" autofocus while capturing video. Both new models feature an enhanced front-facing FaceTime camera with a larger f/2.2 aperture for better performance in low light, along with the ability to capture HDR selfie shots, including HDR-enhanced video. Both new models now include enhanced WiFi supporting 802.11ac, which is up to three times faster than current 802.11n speeds. To connect at faster speeds, you'll need a modern 802.11ac base station, such as one of Apple's newer, tall AirPort models.

The new phones also support Wideband LTE (for faster data, up to 150Mb downloads), Voice over LTE (VoLTE, for high quality voice calls), simultaneous voice and data on LTE, and WiFi carrier calling on select carriers, currently TMobile in the U.S. and EE in the U.K.

To support Apple Pay, both iPhone 6 models include NFC proximity wireless and a Secure Element. Apple's implementation ties purchases to Touch ID authentication and credit or debit cards accounts added to Passbook. To connect at faster speeds, you'll need a modern 802.11ac base station, such as one of Apple's newer, tall AirPort models.

Solar Flare Today

Space experts have long warned that if a truly massive solar storm ever hit us much bigger than the current one — it could knock out power grids across North America, leaving millions of people without electricity for months and causing widespread chaos. A storm that big hit Earth back in 1859 (though there were no power grids then, just a bunch of telegraph wires that got frazzled), and we just barely missed getting blasted by a similar-sized solar eruption in 2012.

Those flares sent two coronal mass ejections toward the Earth — clouds of fast moving particles shot out of the sun's outer atmosphere. The first reached Earth on Thursday night, creating a "moderate" G2 geomagnetic storm when it hit our planet's magnetic field. This weekend's storms are expected to cause only modest disruptions, officials from the Space Weather Prediction Center said. Even so, power grid operators are standing by "just in case."

On the upside, geomagnetic storms can also create brightly colored auroras in the skies. An aurora occurs as the charged particles from the sun travel along the Earth's magnetic field in the upper atmosphere and collide with gas atoms, causing them to emit light. They're frequent in places like Alaska or Iceland, but it takes a strong storm to get auroras this far south.

This eruption is also a reminder that the sun is capable of some truly enormous flare-ups, and much stronger solar storms in the future could do some serious damage. In a worst-case scenario, a massive solar storm could leave 20 to 40 million people in the Northeast without power, according to a sober assessment last year by Lloyd's of London.

As I've detailed before, businesses and government agencies have been devising plans to cope with disruptive space weather — from hardening power grids to rerouting flights that might get disrupted by geomagnetic storms. The biggest concern when it comes to space weather is the possibility that a solar-induced geomagnetic storm could do serious damage to our power grids.

Even a storm that knocked out just 20 key transformers would be "extremely concerning."

British Hostage David Haines

David Haines

The beheading of Briton David Haines, held hostage in Syria, has purportedly been shown in a newly released video.

Mr Haines was working for a French aid agency when he was kidnapped in Syria in March 2013.

Mr Haines and other aid workers were staying in Atmeh - and on 12 March he and an Italian colleague, Federico Motka, were kidnapped. Born in Humberside, East Yorkshire, Mr Haines was raised in Scotland and attended Perth Academy. Mr Haines's online business profile says that he worked for a US company supplying consumer goods to the military around the world - although the company has declined to comment.

Croatian reconstruction

Between 1999 and 2004 he worked for Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB), a Germany charity carrying out reconstruction work in post-war Croatia.

Mr Haines was the head of a regional office for the charity charged with managing a large European Commission-funded plan to help hundreds of displaced people return to the country and recover and rebuild their homes.     A man's life should never be threatened on account of his humanitarian commitment”

French charity ACTED

In April 2011, Mr Haines joined another charity, Handicap International, and became the head of its mission in war-torn Libya. NP issued a statement after Mr Haines's name emerged in the public domain, saying they joined people around the world in pleas, thoughts and calls for his safe release.

Mr Haines returned to aid work in March 2013 when he decided to go to Syria with ACTED. "David has been working as a humanitarian since 1999, helping victims of conflict in the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East.

Beyonce Pregnant Rumors With Second Child

Beyonce is rumored to be pregnant, according to several reports from gossip websites and tabloids.

A source allegedly told the magazine that the couple has reconciled after they nearly got divorced, and that they’re now hiding Beyonce’s pregnancy.

“For the last month, Jay has been fiercely protective of her, just like he was when she was expecting Blue Ivy,” the source said. The other report came from unreliable gossip website Media TakeOut, which proclaimed: “It’s now official … Beyonce announces that she’s pregnant … in the most over the top way imaginable!!!”

“Beyonce was spotted CONSISTENTLY rubbing her belly – and she had a specially made dress – with the BELLY CUT OUT.