UNSETTLED SOLAR WIND: Today, the solar wind blowing around Earth is unsettled with periods of negative BsubZ opening small cracks in Earth's magnetic field. Gaseous material flowing through the cracks could spark Arctic auroras on April 14th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
INTRODUCING COMET SWAN: Warning: This story may give you a sense of déjà vu. A new comet has been discovered, and in late May it will pass by the sun near the orbit of Mercury. No, it's not Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4), which is currently falling apart on a similar trajectory. Introducing, Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8):
A team of amateur astronomers led by Ernesto Guido took the picture on April 11th using a 0.1-meter robotic telescope in Australia. "The comet is about 8th magnitude with a significant tail, almost half a degree long," Guido says.
Comet SWAN was discovered by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on April 11th. Amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo noticed the comet in images from the spacecraft's SWAN instrument, and he quickly reported it so others could begin observing.
The fact that the comet was picked up by SWAN is significant. Short for "Solar Wind ANisotropies," SWAN detects hydrogen in interplanetary space. When the solar wind blows into a cloud of hydrogen-bearing compounds, it produces UV photons that the instrument can photograph.
"For SWAN to see a comet, it means the comet must be producing a fairly significant amount of hydrogen--often in the form of water-ice (H20)," explains Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. "It's extremely likely that the comet is in 'outburst' mode. That is, some major eruption happened to this otherwise small and faint comet, releasing a massive cloud of hydrogen-rich volatiles. SWAN is picking up on this sudden dump of hydrogen into the inner solar system."
Click to view an interactive preliminary orbit of Comet SWAN. Credit: Gideon van Buitenen
If the outburst continues, Comet SWAN could become visible to the naked eye next month. Preliminary light curves suggest that it could get up to 3rd magnitude--dim, but visible without optics. However, Battams, who correctly predicted the demise of Comet ATLAS, is not so sure.
"I doubt that the comet will maintain its current impressive appearance, and will quite possibly fade away soon," he says. "But we've only been viewing it for a couple of days, so no one knows."
The orbit of this comet is still preliminary. Today the comet is located in the southern sky (23h04m, -35°35'), heading north. In May it should become a relatively easy target for telescopes in the northern hemisphere. Stay tuned for updates and orbital elements as they become available.
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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
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