SOLAR MINIMUM CONDITIONS ARE IN EFFECT: So far this year, the sun has been without sunspots for more than 153 days--including the last 11 days straight. To find a similar stretch of blank suns, you have to go back to 2009 when the sun was experiencing the deepest solar minimum in a century. Solar minimum has returned, bringing extra cosmic rays, long-lasting holes in the sun's atmosphere, and strangely pink auroras. Free: Aurora Alerts
TONIGHT--THE HARVEST MOON: Tonight's full Moon has a special name--the Harvest Moon. It's the full moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. Just hours ago, Göran Strand photographed the golden orb rising over Östersund, Sweden:
"This is a single exposure showing the full Harvest Moon rising over Fagerskrapan, a 16-story building in Östersund," says Strand. "It was indeed a beautiful view."
The Harvest Moon is not only pretty, but also it behaves in a special way. Throughout the year the Moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, this difference shrinks to only 30 minutes. The reason is, at the beginning of autumn the Moon's orbital path makes a narrow angle with the evening horizon.
To a non-astronomer, that might sound like celestial trivia. But to sky watchers it makes a huge difference. For several nights in a row around the time of the Harvest Moon, the Moon rises at about the same time--sunset. And you know what happens when the Moon rises at sunset....
Low-hanging moons are magnified by the Moon illusion, a well-known but still mysterious trick of the eye that makes the Moon seem much larger than it really is. Tonight at sunset, you could see a giant Harvest Moon. Happy autumn--and enjoy the show!
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
LASER-ETCHED MILLENNIUM FALCON: It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs! On Sept. 16, 2018, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the Millennium Falcon to the stratosphere. Riding onboard a high-altitude cosmic ray balloon, the laser-etched crystal spaceship traveled 31.9 km (104,658 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $129.95. The students are selling the Falcon to fund the Earth to Sky ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the Falcon in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Also included: an LED-illuminated stand. This creates a colorful visual effect and allows the Falcon to be used as a far-out night light.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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