QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is approaching a stream of debris from comet fragment 2003 EH1, source of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak at 20:40 UT (3:40 pm EST) on Jan. 3rd, producing more than 60 meteors/hour from a radiant near the North Star. The timing of the peak favors European and Asian observers, although late arriving Quadrantids could sprinkle North America as well. Wherever you live, be alert for meteors on Monday night. [more] [observing tips]
GLOBAL ERUPTION ON THE SUN: Can the whole sun erupt at once? Half of it did on Dec. 31st when two explosions occured 700,000 km apart. Sunspot AR2918 exploded in the sun's northern hemisphere (registering an M1-class solar flare) while, at the same time, an enormous prominence lifted off from the sun's southern hemisphere:
Coincidence? Not necessarily. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory discovered long ago that hemisphere-scale magnetic instabilities can ignite simultaneous explosions across the face of the sun. This appears to be such a case.
So far coronagraphs have detected no Earth-directed CMEs. Even when half the sun erupts, sometimes Earth is not in the strike zone. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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INFERIOR CONJUNCTION OF VENUS: Something amazing is happening to Venus. The second planet is turning into a whisper-thin crescent. Daniele Gasparri sends this picture from Chile's Atacama desert:
Why is this happening? Venus is turning its night side toward us as it approaches next week's inferior conjunction (Jan. 8-9, 2022). "Inferior conjunction" is the technical term for the moment when Venus passes almost directly between Earth and the sun. Only a sliver of the planet is visible during this time.
"The apparent diameter of Venus is now greater than 1 arcminute, so you can see a suggestion of the crescent even through binoculars," says Gasparri. "I used a small telescope with a near infrared filter to darken the sky just after the sunset."
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HUMMINGBIRD-SUNFLOWER PENDANT: This pendant has a secret compartment--and it has touched the edge of space. On Nov. 4, 2021, our Sterling Silver Hummingbird-Sunflower Pendant flew to the stratosphere on board an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon:
You can have it for $133.95. Inscribed on the back with "Always on my mind, Forever in my heart," each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. These make great Christmas gifts.
Bonus: The pendant contains a tiny chamber, which you may fill with the ashes of a loved one or anything else you wish to keep close to your heart.
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