THE SOLAR WIND HAS ARRIVED: Earth is entering a stream of solar wind flowing faster than 500 km/s from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere. First contact on May 20th sparked a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, especially in the southern hemisphere where autumn darkness favors visibility. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON: It's less than a week away. On May 26th, the full Moon will pass through the shadow of Earth, producing a total lunar eclipse. For 14 and a half minutes, the disk of the Moon will turn orange--the same color as the core of our planet's shadow.
Other time zones: UT, CDT, MDT, PDT, AKDT, HDT. Credit: Larry Koehn.
The eclipse will be visible from parts of 5 continents: Antarctica, Australia, Asia, North and South America. In the USA, the best place to be is near the west coast, where the eclipse will unfold entirely before sunrise (around 4:20 am Pacific Time). The low-hanging Moon will look extra big and beautiful because of the Moon Illusion. On the east coast, the eclipse will not be visible at all. Visibility maps: World, USA. How to: Photograph the Lunar Eclipse.
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery
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THE DARK HORSE NEBULA: Last night, Levi Aguilera of Bishop, California, camped out at a dark sky site in the remote Sierra Nevada. His goal: To get ready for next week's lunar eclipse. "I'm looking for a good place to shoot the Moon," he says. So, at 4:30 in the morning Pacific Time, he pointed his camera where the eclipsed Moon will be on May 26th. This is what he saw:
"The Milky Way was so bright," he says. "For the first time ever, I saw the Dark Norse Nebula. It was amazing!"
The Dark Horse Nebula is a complex of inky-dark molecular clouds about 650 light years from Earth. Rich in dust and complex molecules, these heavyweight clouds will one day collapse to form stars; for now, they block the light of the background Milky Way, forming the shape of a horse. The nebula is visible only from exceptionally dry and dark sites.
During next week's lunar eclipse, the reddened Moon will be located close to the nebula. Lunar glare will almost certainly erase the horse from view. Between now and then, however, many photographers can catch the equine form as they frame their future Moon shot. Got images? Submit them here.
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WHISKEY STONES FROM SPACE: It's the gift for the person who has everything: Whisky Stones from Space. These granite cubes have experienced the cold of the stratosphere, more than 50 degrees below zero! Put them in your cup for an truly out of this world drink:
You can have a set of 9 cubes for $99.95 (glass not included). The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling whiskey stones to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. The ones picture above flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon on April 23, 2021, reaching an altitude of 97,543 feet.
Refrigerated whiskey stones cool a drink without diluting it, solving the problem of ordinary melting ice cubes. They make great Father's Day and birthday gifts. All stones come with a greeting card showing the cubes in flight.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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