FAST-GROWING SUNSPOT: During the past 24 hours, new sunspot AR2671 has tripled in area and sprouted nearly a dozen dark cores. A movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sunspot's rapid growth. If this development continues apace, AR2671 could soon pose a threat for significant solar flares. Free: Solar Flare Alerts
PREDICTING THE ECLIPSE: During a total eclipse, one of the most mesmerizing sights is the sun's ghostly corona. Gossamer streamers of gas in the sun's outer atmosphere suddenly become visible when the disk of the Moon blocks the glaring body of the sun. NASA-supported researchers at Predictive Science Inc. have just issued a computer model showing how the corona should look to the human eye on Aug.21st, the date of the Great American Solar Eclipse:
"The sun's outer atmosphere is not a featureless layer of gas," says Pete Riley, a solar physicist at the company. "It is sculpted into beautiful, dynamic shapes by the sun's magnetic field." Riley and colleagues including Zoran Mikic and Cooper Downs figured out how to calculate and predict those shapes.
"Every day, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory measures magnetism at the surface of the sun," explains Mikic, who led the modeling effort. "We take the data and extrapolate it into the atmosphere using a computer running magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) codes."
Magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere, calculated by the Predictive Science MHD code [more]
The result is a physics-based prediction of what people and cameras will see within the path of totality. "We are eager to find out how well our model results match reality," says Riley. "Ultimately, this may yield new insight into the complex physical processes that heat the solar corona and accelerate the solar wind."
Riley invites readers to return to their web site after the eclipse for a comparison of the predictions with actual observations. "Enjoy the eclipse!" he says.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
WHY GO TO THE PATH OF TOTALITY? On Aug. 21, 2017, every square inch of the USA will experience a solar eclipse. In most places, the eclipse will be partial--that is, the Moon will cross the sun off-center leaving a crescent shaped portion of the solar disk exposed. Is it really worth the trip to the path of totality when you can stay home and see the partial eclipse? Pulitzer prize winner Annie Dillard, who witnessed both types of eclipse in 1979, compared them as follows:
"A partial eclipse is very interesting. It bears almost no relation to a total eclipse. Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane."
Indeed, during the minutes of totality, the whole world changes. Saying that day turns into night barely scratches the surface of it. The shadow of the Moon lances down to Earth from a quarter million miles away. On one end is you; on the other end is a million square miles of dusty lunar terrain. You're connected, and you can feel the cold.
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN), Alkim Ün
Darkness inside the path of totality has an alien quality. Because the shadow is only 70 miles wide, you can see daylight at the edges even while you stand in the dark core. This distant scattered light produces a slight reddish glow and unusual shadow effects. Many birds stop singing, daytime flower blossoms begin to close as if for the night, and bees return to their hives.
"What you see in an eclipse is entirely different from what you know," says Dillard, whose brilliant essay "Total Eclipse" is a must-read for anyone deciding whether to stay home ... or have their minds blown.
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery
THESE PENDANTS HAVE TOUCHED SPACE: On April 15, 2017, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a payload-full of heart-shaped Venus pendants to the stratosphere onboard a high-altitude helium balloon. Here's one, 111,550 feet above the Sierras of central California:
These blue jewels make great birthday and Christmas gifts--and you have have one for $129.95. Each glittering pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
More items from the edge of space may be found in the Earth to Sky Store. All proceeds support our Solar Eclipse Balloon Network and hands-on STEM education.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education