TODAY, A POSSIBLE CME NEAR MISS: A slow-moving CME that left the sun on June 26th could pass close to Earth today. The near miss, if it occurs, could disturb our planet's magnetic field and spark high latitude auroras. Bright displays are unlikely, but the nearly New Moon will allow long photographic exposures to capture faint lights. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
AN ECLIPSE OF THE SUN IN SPACE (UPDATED): Yesterday, the Moon passed in front of the sun, producing a partial solar eclipse. You had to be in space to see it. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the 35-minute event:
At the peak of the eclipse, the Moon covered 67% of the sun, and lunar mountains were backlit by solar fire. Note the bumps and irregularities in this close-up image of the Moon's limb:
High-resolution images like these can help the SDO science team better understand the telescope. They reveal how light diffracts around SDO's optics and filter support grids. Once these are calibrated, it is possible to correct SDO data for instrumental effects and sharpen images of the sun even more than before.
UPDATE: Patricio Leon of Santiago, Chile, took a closer look at the mountains and actually identified them. They are part of the Leibnitz and Doerfel mountain ranges near the Moon's south pole:
"The top panel is a topography map from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)," explains Leon. "Each red dot in the LRO map is named in the eclipse image below it." Greek letters denote peaks in the Doerfel range; the others are in the Leibnitz range.
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STERLING SILVER RAINBOW DRAGONFLY (GOLDEN HEART): Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider a rainbow dragonfly from the edge of space. On June 3, 2022, this sterling silver pendant hitched a ride onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $172.95. The dragonfly's heart is a golden Celtic love knot, and its wings are decorated with a spray of rainbow-colored crystals. The students are selling dragonfly pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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