BIG, BRIGHT CME: Today, June 26th, a big, bright CME billowed away from the sun's southern hemisphere. Take a look. The strange thing is, analysts aren't certain which side of the sun it came from. Equal numbers of clues suggest farside and Earthside. If it is an Earthside event, it could reach us late on June 28th or June 29th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
SURPRISE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A G1-class geomagnetic storm broke out around midnight (UT) on June 25-26. At first it was a surprise; now the reason seems clear. A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) hit Earth's magnetic field, opening a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to spark a rare solstice display of auroras:
"Wow, talk about surprises!" says photographer Harlan Thomas of Calgary, Alberta. "I went out before sunrise to shoot Comet C/2017 K2 Panstarrs and the Moon-Venus conjunction when the auroras appeared. The display lasted all of 5 minutes, and what a 5 min show it was as the aurora became naked eye with beautiful pillars."
CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind. Often, they contain enhanced magnetic fields and shock waves that do a good job sparking auroras. After this CIR arrived, the solar wind speed ramped up to 700 km/s, confirming that a CIR transition had taken place. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
more images: from Philip Granrud of Kalispell, Montana
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MOON-VENUS CONJUNCTION: Today, the crescent Moon is passing close to Venus. Jeff Dai photographed the converging pair at daybreak over Hami, Xinjiang, China:
"The Pleiades were there, too," says Dai. "It was a beautiful conjunction."
Today's conjunction marks the apex of this month's rare morning sky show. All 5 naked-eye planets are lined up in the dawn sky in order of their distance from the sun--with the Moon snuggled up to Venus on June 26th. If it is dawn where you live, go outside and take a look. Sky maps: June 25, 26.
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GOOD-BYE, BIG SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR3038 is about to rotate over the northwestern limb of the sun. Pepe Manteca sends this parting shot from Barcelona, Spain:
"I inserted an image of Earth for scale," says Manteca. The sunspot's primary core is big enough to swallow our entire planet.
As the sunspot rotates over the sun's limb this weekend, it will become magnetically connected to Earth via the Parker Spiral. Energetic particles accelerated by flares will be funneled in our direction despite the fact the sunspot is facing almost directly away from us--strange, but true!
"I LOVE YOU FOREVER" MOONSTONE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the "I Love You Forever" Moonstone. This one hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon on May 13, 2022:
You can have it for $162.95. The moonstone's sterling silver infinity wrap is inscribed with the words "I love you forever." It makes a great anniversary or birthday gift. The moonstone comes with a greeting card showing the pendant 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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