PROTO-SUNSPOTS FROM THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE: Got a solar telescope? Train it on the sun's eastern limb. Two regions of magnetic activity are emerging right here. Call them "proto-sunspots." If the magnetic fields continue to coalesce they will form dark cores on the sun's surface. The polarity of these regions mark them as members of new Solar Cycle 25. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
A COMET WITHIN A COMET? Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) continues to amaze. First, in March, it was supposed to become as bright as Venus. Then, in April, it fell apart. Now, in May, it seems to have become a "comet within a comet." This new image from Michael Jäger of Jauerling, Austria shows a mini-comet with a distinct tail inside the larger envelope of ATLAS's green atmosphere.
"This is a 35 minute exposure using my 11-inch telescope," says Jäger. "I tracked the comet as it moved among the stars. As a result, the background stars are streaked."
Clearly, one of the fragments of ATLAS's crumbling core has sprung a tail of its own, spewing an independent plume of gas and dust within the larger whole. An animation made by Jäger shows that the feature is not just a background star trail. It is moving through space with the comet:
What will happen next? Comet ATLAS is plunging toward the sun with a close approach on May 31st inside the orbit of Mercury. Intense solar heating could cause the battered core to fragment further, activating new "internal comets", or the whole assembly could disintegrate into a haze of dust and gas. Stay tuned!
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FATHER'S DAY FISHING LURE: Father's Day is only a month away. Just in time for giftgiving, we present the first fishing lure in space. This unique hook, inscribed with the message "I love you more than you love fishing," hitched a ride onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, reaching an altitude of 117,454 feet:
You can have it for $79.95. The students are selling these lures to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each hook comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back.
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