THE MOON AND MARS: On Thursday, Oct. 29th, the waxing full Moon will pass by Mars, forming a luminous pair in the early evening sky. Mars is currently brighter than Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), so its red light will be easy to see despite the lunar glare. When the sun goes down, look east for a beautiful view: sky map.
BIG SUNSPOT, CRACKLING WITH FLARES: New sunspot AR2778 sharply increased in size overnight, and it is now crackling with C-class solar flares. Here is the ultraviolet flash from the strongest so far, a C4-class flare photographed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
A pulse of radiation from this flare briefly ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, disturbing shortwave radio propagation around the Indian Ocean: blackout map. The sunspot has been producing similar flares every few hours since then (0615 UT on Oct. 27th).
AR2778 is the biggest sunspot of young Solar Cycle 25 with nearly a dozen dark cores spawling almost 100,000 km across the solar surface. Astronomer Mohammad Talafha sends this picture of the growing region from the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates:
"When I looked on the morning of Oct. 27th, the sunspot group was almost 8 times wider than Earth," says Talafha, "and it may have grown since then."
These dimensions make AR2778 an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Amateur astronomers with safely-filtered optics are encouraged to monitor developments.
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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 Apollo 11 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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