X-FLARE SUNSPOT RETURNS: On July 3rd, sunspot AR2838 unleashed the first X-flare of Solar Cycle 25, then promptly departed on a 2-week journey around the farside of the sun. It's back. The formerly-flaring sunspot is quietly rotating over the sun's northeastern limb, right here. Has it spent its fury since we last saw it--or does some remain? Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SPACE STATION 'SOLAR FLARE': Last Friday, Philip Smith was watching the Interational Space Station glide above his house in New York when, suddenly, the station more than doubled in brightness. Was it an explosion? No. Video recorded through his 14-inch telescope shows what happened:
"It was a 'solar flare'," says Smith. The station's new roll-out solar panel (iROSA) caught a beam of sunlight and redirected it toward Earth. "I was very happy to see I just imaged a part of ISS history."
Recent history, that is. iROSA is the newest addition to the ISS. It's a solar panel that literally rolls out (like a paper towel) in front of the station's original aging solar arrays. Unfurled by astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet during spacewalks in June, iROSA provides a 20% to 30% power boost compared to the older panels behind them. 'Solar flares' are a photogenic bonus.
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DARTH VADER MUG FROM SPACE: This mug is for the drinker who likes their coffee black. On July 16, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a 18 oz. sculpted Darth Vader coffee cup to the stratosphere. Here it i floating more than 105,315 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $132 (two times Order $66). Vader comes with a greeting card showing the cup in flight and telling the story of its trip to the edge of space. It survived the stratosphere, and it will survive your kitchen, too. The high quality stoneware is rated dishwasher safe.
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