SpaceWeather.com Archive — Sun, Jun 12, 2022

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RARE MORNING SKY SHOW: For the first time since Dec. 2004, five naked-eye planets have lined up at dawn in order of their distance from the sun. It's a rare morning sky show. Next week, the Moon will hop 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.

SUNSET POLLEN CORONA: Warning: This sunset might make you sneeze. "The pine is now strongly flowering here in middle Finland, filling the air with allergens," reports Vesa Vauhkonen, who photographed the resulting pollen corona on June 10th:

Note the lumpy rings of light around the setting sun. That's the pollen corona. "Some of the pollen coronas we've been seeing are very impressive, both in size, colors and geometry," says Vauhkonen. "I captured these images just before sunset at the lake of Niinivesi in Rautalampi."

Coronas are rings of light that surround the sun when sunlight is scattered from the outside of small particles. Tiny droplets of water in clouds can make coronas, too, but pollen grains do even better. They make intensely colored rings.

Pollen coronas tend to be elliptical and lumpy because the underlying grains are, too. This photo of pine pollen seen through a microscope shows what's going on:

They look like Mickey Mouse hats--a result of air sacs that help carry them in the wind. These align the grains so that the unruly swarm can scatter light coherently, encoding their individual structures into the shape of the overall corona.

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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.