PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Debris from giant comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is disintegrating in Earth's atmosphere, producing a nightly spray of shooting stars expected to peak on Aug. 11th and 12th. The best time to look is during the hours before local sunrise when the constellation Perseus is high in the sky. Sky maps: Aug. 11, 12, 13.
LIGHT BRIDGE: New-cycle sunspot AR2770 might be breaking apart. A bright canyon of light--also known as a "light bridge"--is opening in the sunspot's primary core. Amateur astronomer Howard Eskildsen photographed the phenomenon from his backyard observatory in Ocala, Florida. Follow the arrow:
"I used a violet Calcium-K filter, which highlights the bright magnetic froth around the sunspot group as well as the light bridge cutting the main 'spot in two," explains Eskildsen.
The bridge is about 5,000 miles long, roughly equal to the diameter of Mars. These dimensions make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. But if you look, what will you see?
The nature of light bridges is not fully understood. Some research suggests that magnetic fields at the base of a light bridge are busy cross-crossing and reconnecting--the same explosive process that sparks solar flares. Does this mean the primary core of AR2770 will explode? Or quietly fall apart? More often than not, light bridges herald the breakup of a sunspot. Either way, something is about to happen. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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RED, BLUE, AND MOONDUST GREY: Did you know Mars is approaching Earth? In October 2020 the Red Planet will have a parhelic apparition in the midnight sky, outshining every other star and planet except Venus. Mars has already grown so bright that it was visible this morning in daylight over Brasilia, Brazil:
"I photographed the Moon in conjunction with Mars at 6 am local time," reports Leo Caldas. "No telescope was required--just my Nikon D7500 camera. Only 40 km from here the Moon passed directly in front of Mars. I was that close to an occultation."
Get ready for more pictures of Mars as northern summer turns into fall. Less than 2 weeks from now, Mars will be as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. And by the night of closest approach, just 38,568,243 miles away on Oct. 6th, Mars will be almost 3 times brighter than Sirius--a real eye-catcher. Stay tuned!
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A KILLER GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: It's the ultimate gift for a Star Wars fan--a Killer Droid from the edge of space. On July 23rd, this bounty-hunting bobblehead namd "IG-11" hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here he is floating 117,454 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of California:
You can have him for $111.11. The students of Earth to Sky are selling IG-11 to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each bobblehead comes with a card showing it floating through the stratosphere, 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
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