Our Sun Erupts

On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering
in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT.
The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second.
The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s
magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night
 of Monday, September 3. The incredible image above is a lighten blended
version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.

Source: Twisted Sifter

Super Moon May 5, 2012

A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth, resulting in the largest apparent size of the moon's disk as seen from Earth. This results in a moon that is 14% larger (closer) and 30% brighter than other full moons of 2012.

 The scientific term for the phenomenon is "perigee moon." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee"). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright.

Time-lapse Images From International Space Station

View from the ISS at Night from Knate Myers on Vimeo.