SpaceWeather.com Archive — Fri, Jun 10, 2022

« backFri, Jun 10, 2022forward »

M-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: A new sunspot emerging over the sun's northeastern limb exploded this morning (June 10th @ 10:54 UT), producing a long-duration M1-class solar flare. Radiation from the flare caused a minor shortwave radio blackout over Africa. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

Above: An extreme ultraviolet movie of today's M-flare. Credit: SDO/NASA

GOOD MORNING, MERCURY: Since June began, 4 bright planets have been lined up in the morning sky. Make that 5. Mercury just joined the show. Gary Dowdle photographed it emerging from the glare of the sun at dawn over Fort Davis, Texas:

"Mercury is now rising in the eastern sky where it is visible alongside Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn," says Dowdle, who made a sky map showing the 5 planets.

According to Sky&Telescope, this is the first time since December 2004 that the five naked-eye planets have appeared together in this way. They are arrayed in order of distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In the mornings ahead, Mercury will climb higher and brighten, making the group even easier to see.

Dates of special interest include June 16th when Mercury is farthest from the sun and June 21st through 26th when the Moon hops from planet to planet, producing a series of early morning conjunctions. Set your alarm for dawn and enjoy the show! Sky maps: today, June 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.

more images: from Bob Beal of Washington, Utah; from Noeleen Lowndes of Gold Coast Qld Australia; from Tom Harradine of Brisbane, Australia

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter

LIMITED EDITION 'MIRROR SPOCK': In 1967, a transporter accident sent Mr. Spock into a parallel universe, swapping the science officer of the Enterprise with his evil twin. We just found him ... in the stratosphere. Here is "Mirror Spock" floating 108,551 feet high onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have him for $170.10 (the serial number of the Enterprise divided by 10). Inspired by the classic "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek first broadcast on Oct. 6, 1967, this 8" statue is made of high-quality polystone resin and expertly painted. It comes with a greeting card showing Spock in flight and a certificate of authenticity.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, only 1000 limited edition Mirror Spock statues were manufactured and sold at sci-fi conventions in 2016. We've collected a few of these rarities to fly to the stratosphere. Get yours now.