DENSE SOLAR WIND SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A dense wave of solar wind crashed against Earth's magnetic field on August 2nd, sparking a G1-class geomagnetic storm. It may have been a ripple from a passing CME--one of several "near miss CMEs" that left the sun in late July. High-latitude photographers should be alert for auroras in night-sky exposures on Aug. 2-3. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
A SUNSPOT MADE IN CHINA: What does a world-famous astrophotographer do while on vacation? Astrophotography. On July 27th, Theirry Legault was sitting on a Mediterranean beach when he snapped this picture of China's new space station transiting the sun:
"A few days of vacation with my 8" refractor along the Mediterranean Sea produced this picture of China's Tiangong Space Station," says Legault. Backlit by the sun, "the station's silhouette shows all 3 of the station's modules with their solar arrays and the robotic arm."
China's new space station is only 3 months old. The core module was launched April 29th, and it has since been joined by a cargo carrier and a spacecraft carrying 3 astronauts, now living on board. China plans to add two more modules in 2022, turning Tiangong into a Mir-class facility. The final product will weigh nearly 70 tons with living quarters, science labs and even a Hubble-class telescope to view the cosmos.
Readers, you can see the space station with your own eyes. Visit Heavens-Above.com and select flyby predictions for Tiangong. It glows in the night sky as brightly as a 1st magnitude star.
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A BEAGLE AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: Snoopy has been to the stratosphere. On July 16, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched everyone's favorite Beagle onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here is astronaut Snoopy floating more than 105,315 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $99.95. It's Peanuts for a cup from space! The students are selling Snoopy cups to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the cup in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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