ARE WE WRONG ABOUT THE SOLAR CYCLE? Solar Cycle 25 is just getting started. A new article in the New York Times examines a growing dispute among forecasters, who can't decide if the coming Solar Maximum will be boom or bust. Spaceweather.com is quoted likening the situation to an Elephant. Read it here.
A SUNSPOT BLOWS ITS TOP (UPDATED): On May 28th (2313 UT), sunspot AR2824 erupted and blew away some of the sun's atmosphere. Watch the C9-class flare shove aside giant loops of hot plasma in this movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
A shadowy solar tsunami can also be seen racing across the sun's surface. It ripples out from the blast site, asymmetrically, traveling mainly north and east. Such waves usually herald a coronal mass ejection (CME)--and indeed, a CME has been detected.
Click to play a movie of the storm cloud recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
Most of the CME is flying away from Earth--no surprise considering the sunspot's location near the sun's western limb. However, there is a hint in the animation of an Earth-directed component. NOAA analysts are modeling the CME now to see if a glancing blow is possible in the days ahead.
Our guess: Yes, on May 31st or June 1st. Stay tuned! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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STERLING SILVER HUMMINGBIRD: This hummingbird has touched space. The sterling silver pendant hitched a ride to the stratosphere on Jan. 15, 2021, when the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray balloon. Here it is, floating 111,202 feet above the snow-capped Sierra Nevada of central California:
You can have it for $142.95. The students are selling hummingbird pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the hummingbird in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. It makes an out-of-this-world birthday, anniversary, or Christmas gift!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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