THE TERMINATION EVENT: Something big may be about to happen on the sun. It's called the "Termination Event" and it could kickstart Solar Cycle 25 into a higher gear. A handful of solar physicists are bucking conventional wisdom to promote this idea--and we will soon find out if they are correct. FULL STORY
MOON-VENUS CONJUNCTIONS: This weekend the crescent Moon passed by Venus, forming a beautiful pair in the evening twilight sky. David Blanchard sends this picture from Flagstaff, Arizona:
"Venus and Moon in the evening twilight with reflections--what a beautiful view!" he says. (The star near the Moon is epsilon Gemini.)
Get ready for more. Venus will be in the evening sky for the rest of the year, waiting for the crescent Moon to join her. Future conjunctions will happen at roughly one-month intervals: July 11th, Aug. 10th, Sept. 9th, Oct. 9th, Nov. 7th and Dec. 6th. On each of those dates, Venus and the Moon gather together at the end of the day; just step outside at sunset and look west.
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CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF PLASMA RAIN: A magnetic island has just floated over the sun's northeastern limb. Its forecast: Cloudy with a chance of plasma rain. Michael Karrer photographed the weather system earlier today from his backyard observatory in Austria:
The island is sunspot AR2833. It is an island, made of magnetism, not matter, floating on a sea of solar plasma. A cloud of hydrogen floats above and behind the sunspot. Streamers of plasma can be seen falling from the cloud down to the sea surface below.
Sunspot AR2833 is an old friend. We first saw it in May when it crossed the Earthside of the sun, crackling with C-class solar flares. At the time, it was known as AR2824. The longlasting sunspot recently spent 2 weeks on the farside of the sun. Per tradition, the returning sunspot has been renamed. As Karrer's video shows, AR2833 is a photogenic target for amateur astronomers with solar telescopes.
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FATHER'S DAY GIFTS FROM SPACE: What do you get the dad who has everything? Consider a gift from the edge of space. Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the top of Earth's atmosphere onboard a cosmic ray balloon, and they're all 10% off between now and Father's Day (June 20th).
Each gift comes with a unique greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. Cosmic ray data collected during the flights form a unique record of radiation in Earth's atmosphere--100% gathered and analyzed by young scientists. Sales support the students and their high-altitude ballooning program.
Don't forget to use the coupon code LUKEIAMYOURFATHER at checkout for a 10% Father's Day discount.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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