From humble beginnings in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has become a a Global time for reflection on how we can all make a difference in protecting the planet from – 7 Billion of us.

It also highlights the level of light pollution across the world, all of which destroys our fundamental right to an unimpeded view of the birthplace of the planet itself (and us) that grand Galaxy, The Milky Way of which we are but a small part.

An interesting question has been posed on the ABC Far North Regional Radio Gardening Program. “Is the rise in Solar Flares affecting plants with unexplained burning observed”

Firstly a quick explanation of how the sun interacts with the earths Atmosphere, a topic covered several time on ATSG. The charged plasma ejected during CME events on the sun certainly interacts with the earths Atmosphere producing Glorious Aurora’s. However the most likely effect on the ground will be any growth of the Ozone Hole that develops over The Arctic and Antarctic each year. The resulting increase in UV can certainly have an effect on plants and animals on the earth.

More to come on this subject !

27-3-12: This Simulation from NASA certainly highlights the amount of energy released into our Atmosphere by these events !

Venus and Jupiter are currently giving us a wonderful show in the western sky at sunset. The attached annimation shows their progress accross the heavens through to the 1st of April. Including a wonderful conjunction with the moon on the 26th of March. There are some great photo opportunities in these beautiful conjunctions, I hope your skies are clear !

With a bit of determined observing I was able to get a shot of the best alignment, through the clouds on the 26-3

Double click on the image to run the annimation.