GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on July 20th or 21st when a slow-moving CME is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The CME was hurled into space by an unstable filament of magnetism, which erupted on July 15th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
HUGE SOLAR PROMINENCE: There is a prominence jutting out from the sun's southwestern limb today. It is so big, astronomers are struggling to squeeze it into a single photograph. "I had to mosaic 6 exposures to capture the whole thing," says Philippe Tosi, who sends this stitched-together image from Nîmes, France:
Tosi inserted an image of Earth for scale. The wall of plasma is more than five times taller than our entire planet.
Structures like this, in which scorching hot plasma is held very high by dynamic magnetic fields, are inherently unstable. If the prominence erupts in the next couple of days, amateur astronomers will get a fantastic side-on view of its disintegration. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
more images: from Pepe Manteca of Begues, Barcelona, Spain; from Maxime Spano of AstroVal Observtory, Switzerland; from Alessandro Bianconi of Dolianova, Italy; from Maximilian Teodorescu of Magurele, Romania; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from Alexander Golitschek of Darmstadt, Germany; from Noeleen Lowndes of Gold Coast, Australia; from Sylvain Weiller of Jerusalem, Israel
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COMET K2 AND THE STAR CLUSTER: Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) is at peak brightness as it makes its closest approach to Earth. Perfect timing for a conjunction with a star cluster. Using a telescope in Namibia, Gerald Rhemann photographed the big comet passing by M10 on July 15th:
The comet appears to be shooting a jet of material toward the heart of the cluster. Not really. That's just one of the comet's two tails. All comets have them: an ion tail and a dust tail. The ion tail is made of gas and is blown directly away from the sun by the solar wind. The heavier dust tail more closely traces the comet's orbit. In Rhemann's photo it is the ion tail that is pointing toward the star cluster.
Comet K2 is now moving away from M10, but it remains an easy target for backyard telescopes (m=+8). When the clock strikes midnight, point your optics here.
more images: from Michael Jaeger of Martinsberg Austria; from José J. Chambó of Valencia, Spain
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STERLING SILVER TIGER HEART PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the sterling silver Tiger Heart Pendant. On June 26, 2022, this one hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $133.95. The golden tiger is surrounded by a partial halo of sparkling cubic zirconia crystals, tracing the shape of a heart. A rich layer of rhodium plating ensures the longevity of the pendant and its 18-inch chain.
The Tiger Heart Pendant makes a great anniversary, Christmas, or birthday gift. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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