COMET LEONARD OUTBURST: Around the world, astronomers are reporting a sudden brightening of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1). On Dec. 20th, the comet's magnitude jumped by at least +2--that is, a 6-fold increase in brightness. This might signal a fragmentation event in the comet's core, unsurprising perhaps as the iceball is approaching the sun. "Tonight it was clearly visible as a 'star' to the left of Venus," says Jan Hattenbach of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. "I estimate magnitude 3 or brighter." Browse: Photo Gallery.
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE: Directly facing Earth, sunspot AR2908 produced an M1.9-class solar flare today (Dec. 20 @ 1136 UT). A pulse of X-rays ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a minor shortwave radio blackout over the south Atlantic Ocean: map. Stay tuned for updates about a possible CME emerging from the blast site. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
"I received an alarm about the solar flare," says Pepe Manteca of Barcelona, Spain. "So I was able to quickly mount my Lunt 152 and here are the images."
Francois Rouviere of Cannes, France, also caught the sunspot in mid-flare. Amateur astronomers with solar filters should remained prepared, because more flares are in the offing.Stay tuned.
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SURPRISE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Arctic sky watchers were surprised on Dec. 19th when a G1-class geomagnetic storm broke the official forecast. "Little did we know, we would get a great display of auroras," says Markus Varik, who sends this picture from Tromsø, Norway:
"There were pink flares, green bands, purple dancing...anything you would want, we got last night," says Varik.
The forecast called for quiet. Instead, an unexpected stream of solar wind arrived. The stream "snowplowed" a berm of dense plasma right into Earth's magnetic field, opening a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured through the gap to fuel the display. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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