LAST GASP OF SOLAR CYCLE 24: A small sunspot has emerged near the sun's equator: AR2766. The sunspot's low latitude and magnetic polarity identify it as a member of old Solar Cycle 24. The decaying solar cycle still has some life left in it--but only a little. It's right here.
BRIGHT MORNING COMET: Comets are usually seen in the dark of night. Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is different. The incredible morning comet is surrounded by twilight-blue. Fred Espenak of Portal, AZ, took this picture just before daybreak on the 4th of July:
"It was my second morning observing Comet NEOWISE," says Espenak. "Wow! The comet was easy to see in 7x40 binoculars. With the naked eye, it was much more difficult, but I think I caught glimpses of it with a bit of averted vision."
Comet NEOWISE passed by the sun near the orbit of Mercury on July 3rd, and it is only now starting to emerge from the sun's glare. Espenak photographed the comet less than an hour before local sunrise while the sky was filled with moderate twilight.
Despite the ambient glare, Espenak was able to accurately estimate the comet's magnitude. "Using the nearby stars Theta Auriga (v=+2.6) and Beta Tauri (Elnath, v=+1.7), I would estimate that the nucleus of NEOWISE was about +2," he says. "If this brightness holds, the comet will become much easier to see in coming days when it can be seen in a darker sky." Sky maps: July 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
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NEED BABY YODA, YOU DO: Baby Yoda has been to the stratosphere. The future Jedi left Earth May 21st onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here he is floating Force-free 107,611 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have Baby Yoda for $119.95. The students are selling these adorable bobbleheads to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. They make great birthday, Christmas, and graduation gifts. Each one comes with a greeting card showing Yoda in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
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All sales support hands-on STEM education
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