POSSIBLE FARSIDE SUNPOTS: NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft is monitoring a bright UV hotspot on the farside of the sun, here. It could be a significant sunspot group. If so, we will see its dark cores rotating over the sun's southeastern limb in a few days. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
GELATINOUS SUN: So you thought the sun was made of plasma? A new video might change your mind. On June 4th, Apollo Lasky of Naperville, Illinois, was observing sunspot AR2829 when this happened:
"Apparently the sun is made of jello," laughs Lasky, who captured the flyby using a homemade solar telescope and high-speed video camera running at 500 fps.
The fast-moving commercial jet came as a complete surprise and created a lot of atmospheric optics. Behind the plane, the engines' turbulent exhaust completely scrambled the sunspot's image. Up front, near the nose, the aerodynamic flow was less chaotic, gently refracting the contours of the sunspot around the fuselage; this is the "jello effect."
Watch the video one more time and pay special attention to the front of the engines. The sunspot itself looks like it is being sucked into the air scoop. Jello or jet fuel? You decide.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
iPHONE NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: What kind of camera equipment do you need to photograph meteoritic clouds at the edge of space? "Tonight, I used my iPhone," says Shaun Greenwell, who sends this picture from Ponteland, Northumberland, UK:
These are noctilucent clouds (NLCs). Seeded by meteoroids, NLCs float at the edge of space about 83 km above the ground. The clouds usually form in early summer when wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. Often, they're bright enough to photograph using no more than a cell phone.
"Every year they seem to be a few days earlier," says Greenwell. (He's right.) "NLCs are always always a welcome sight on an early summers night."
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
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
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter