A GLANCING BLOW IS POSSIBLE TODAY: NOAA forecasters say that a CME might deliver a glancing bow to Earth's magnetic field later today. The impact, if it occurs, could spark geomagnetic unrest on March 24th. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

BIG SUNSPOT ALERT: A large sunspot is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb today. Philippe Tosi photographed it from his backyard observatory in Nîmes, France:

"It is a big one," says Tosi, who inserted an image of Earth for scale. The sunspot's primary dark core is at least twice as wide as our planet. Furthermore, newly-arriving images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory suggest there may be additional dark cores following just behind it.

The dimensions of the sunspot make it an easy target for safely-filtered amateur telescopes. Don't have a filter? Try this projection technique, instead. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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STAR TREK WINE STOPPER: It's the most far-out wine stopper ever! The USS Enterprise hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here is the starship-shaped stopper floating 105,563 feet above the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:

You can have it for $119.95. The students are selling these must-have bar accessories to support their cosmic ray research program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the stopper in flight, telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again.

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

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