NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS ARE SPREADING SOUTH: Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) have descended to their lowest latitude of the 2020 season: +44 N in Bend, Oregon. "I woke up at 3:30 am on June 18th to a very bright sky shining through the shades," reports Bend resident Roy Reynolds, who photographed the glowing clouds. NLCs usually descend even lower after the summer solstice--that is, after today. So be alert for electric blue.
TODAY'S SOLAR ECLIPSE: Today, June 21st, the New Moon passed in front of the sun, producing a solar eclipse visible across most of Earth's eastern hemisphere. The first images are arriving now. Jeff Dia sends this picture from the shores of Lake Manasarova in Tibet:
Dia caught the eclipse at maximum when about 99% of the solar disk was covered. "I was worried when the sky became overcast, but we were able to see thr bright ring even through the clouds," he says.
"I was lucky to see Bailey's beads as well," says Dia. Bailey's beads are the irregular bright spots outlining parts of the ring. They are caused by shafts of sunlight beaming through gaps in lunar mountain ranges.
Meanwhile in orbit, Japan's Himawari-8 weather satellite recorded the Moon's shadow racing across the surface of the Earth:
People in the black core of that shadow could look up and, for a few minutes, see the same 'ring of fire' Jeff Dai photographed from Tibet.
Photographers in the eastern hemisphere, if you have images of the eclipse, please submit them here!
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery
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APOLLO 11 PROOF SILVER DOLLAR (COLLECTOR'S ITEM): Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider this: On July 20, 2019 (the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing), the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this rare proof silver dollar to the stratosphere:
The US Mint created the coins to celebrate the first Moon landing--but you can no longer buy them from the Mint. You can, however, get one from Earth to Sky Calculus. The students are selling the collector's item for $229.95 to support their cosmic ray ballooning program.
The silver dollar is curved and reproduces the helmet of astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Reflected in Buzz's visor are Neil Armstrong, the United States flag, and the lunar lander. The opposite side of the coin shows Neil's iconic footprint on the Moon. Included is a greeting card showing the coin in flight and a certificate of authenticity.
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