FARSIDE SUNSPOTS: The sunspot number is about to increase. NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft is monitoring three active regions on the farside of the sun. All three are poised to rotate over the sun's eastern limb in the next 2 to 3 days. A fourth, AR2887, described below, is already here. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

NEW SUNSPOT TURNS TOWARD EARTH: New sunspot AR2887 is turning toward Earth and growing rapidly. Click to view a 24 hour movie of the sunspot rotating over the sun's southeastern limb:

Since yesterday it has nearly doubled in size with a significant increase in apparent complexity.If its development proceeds apace, it could soon become a source of Earth-directed solar flares.Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

more images: from Francois Rouviere of Cannes, France; from Richard Jaworski of Carlingford, NSW, Australia; from Maximilian Teodorescu of Magurele, Romania; from James Roger Samworth of Nailstone, Nuneaton, UK;

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VOYAGER GOLDEN RECORD ORNAMENT: This is a must-have Christmas ornament for space fans: The Voyager Golden Record. On Oct. 15th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have it for $129.95. The 4-inch aluminum disk is imprinted with instructions intended for extraterrestrials, telling them how to play the phonographs now sailing through interstellar space onboard NASA's Voyager probes. Having touched the edge of space, it's the closest thing on Earth to an actual Golden Record.

The students are selling these unique ornaments to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the ornament in flight and extra materials decoding the markings on the disk.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education

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