FARSIDE EXPLOSION TOUCHES EARTH: Imagine an explosion on the farside of the sun so powerful, we could feel it here on Earth. It happened on July 13th. The debris emerged in a circular cloud known as a halo CME'. Despite the face that the body of the sun blocked the explosion, energetic particles still peppered Earth: full story.
ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT HALO CME: It just happened again. On July 16th, a magnificent halo CME billowed away from the farside of the sun. This is the 3rd such explosion in the last three days:
This is a sign of continued activity from a hidden farside sunspot group. The active region could turn to face Earth within the next week. Stay tuned! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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A RAINBOW IN THE CROSSWALK: This week in Bratislava, Slovakia, pedestrian Miroslav Grnja attempted to cross the street. He had to stop, though, when he saw what was underfoot. "There was a rainbow in the crosswalk," he says.
Rainbows are usually created by raindrops. In this case, however, the ground was dry. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains what happened:
"The photographer saw a glass bead bow," says Cowley. "Road painters often sprinkle small glass beads onto the drying new paint to increase its reflectivity and visibility. Some beads inevitably get onto the surrounding road where they act just like raindrops to make a bow. It's one of those rare times when we can see a bow as a complete circle. The 'glass-bow' is only half the size of a normal rainbow because glass refracts (bends) light more strongly."
Indeed, confirms Grnja, "the crosswalk had been painted only a few days ago."
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RARE MR. SPOCK MUG: It's the logical way to wake up in the morning: Coffee in a rare Mr. Spock mug. On March 21, 2021, this unique ceramic collector's item flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You cannot buy these mugs anywhere on the internet--not even Amazon. But you can have one from Earth to Sky Calculus for $170.10. That's the serial number of the Enterprise divided by 10. The mug comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again. It's a great gift for any Trekkie!
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