A CME IS COMING, SLOWLY: A slow-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) might hit Earth's magnetic field on July 14th, according to NOAA analysts. It was hurled in our direction on July 8th by a magnetic eruption on the sun. A CME that takes nearly a week to cross the sun-Earth divide is unlikely to spark geomagnetic storms when it arrives, but there is a chance... Aurora alerts: SMS Text
THE GROWING TAIL OF COMET NEOWISE: The double tail of Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is growing longer. This weekend in Stixendorf, Austria, Michael Jaeger photographed it stretching more than 20 degrees across the morning sky:
"The comet was too big to fit into a single photo," says Jaeger. "I had to mosaic three panels to capture the whole thing."
The brighter of the two tails is the dust tail, made of dusty-rocky grains sprinkled like crumbs along the comet's curved orbit. Just above it is the fainter ion tail, made of gas shoved straight away from the sun by the solar wind.
The yellow-white dust tail is what most people see when they look at the comet with the unaided eye. The ion tail is not so obvious--in part because it is faint, in part because it is blue, almost the same color as the morning twilight sky. It shows up beautifully, however, in wide-field camera exposures. Here are some additional examples.
Realtime Comet NEOWISE Photo Gallery
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COMET NEOWISE IN THE EVENING SKY: Observers of Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3), by far the finest comet in years, have had just one complaint. You have to wake up at the crack of dawn to see it! Not anymore. NEOWISE is now visible in the evening sky, too. Paolo Bardelli photographed it today after sunset in Sumirago, Italy:
"Thanks to clear skies, I was able to see the comet very low in the north-northwest," says Bardelli.
At the moment "Evening Comet" NEOWISE is still a horizon-hugger, low and hard to see. However, it will climb higher in the sunset sky as July unfolds. After July 15th, sunset will be the time and place to see the comet as it rockets northward toward the Big Dipper. Stay tuned! Sky maps: July 12, 13, 14, 15.
Realtime Comet NEOWISE Photo Gallery
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NEED BABY YODA, YOU DO: Baby Yoda has been to the stratosphere. The future Jedi left Earth on May 21st aboard 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.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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