FREE BALLOON FLIGHTS TO THE STRATOSPHERE: Hey, did your science class get cancelled? Are you stuck at home with nothing to do? Now is the time to visit the stratosphere. We're giving away high-altitude balloon launches to students and citizen scientists who have good ideas for experiments. The program is called FREELIFT, and you're invited to participate: https://www.earthtosky.store/free-lift
FRAGMENTS OF COMET ATLAS: There's no longer any doubt. Comet ATLAS is falling apart. Around the world, amateur astronomers are beginning to witness the breakup, even imaging individual fragments. Jose de Queiroz photographed as many as 3 pieces on April 11th:
"I took the picture using the 90 cm telescope at Observatory Mirasteilas in Falera, Switzerland," says de Queiroz. "This is a stacked 20x120 sec exposure."
Confirming images from the Lulin One-meter Telescope in Taiwan have just been reported in an Astronomer's Telegram. The observing team, led by Zhong-Yi Lin of Taiwan's National Central University, estimates that the leading fragment is about 3400 km ahead of the trailing pair.
The breakup of Comet ATLAS coincides with a sharp decline in its brightness. The Comet Observation Database shows a drop of two full magnitudes (a factor of more than 6):
These trends suggest that the comet *might* completely desolve before its close approach to the sun inside the orbit of Mercury at the end of May. "Follow-up observations of C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), both imaging and spectroscopy, are highly recommended to investigate the cause of this cometary breakup event," says Lin and colleagues.
Realtime Comet ATLAS Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
A MOTHER'S DAY GIFT FROM THE STRATOSPHERE: Tell Mom how much you love her -- to the Moon and Back! On March 5th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched an array of cosmic ray sensors to the edge of space onboard a helium balloon. This Mother's Day pendant went along for the ride:
The silvery crescent declares "I love you to the Moon and Back" and surrounds a 14K gold plated heart labeled "Mom."
You can have it for $99.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter