CHANCE OF MINOR STORMS: NOAA forecasters say there is a chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on Aug. 3rd when a high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to graze Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowiing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOMETHING FLARE-Y THIS WAY COMES: Something just exploded behind the sun's northeastern limb. On July 31st at 2309 UT, Earth-orbiting satellites registered a long-lasting C9.3-class solar flare; the intensity is probably an underestimate because it was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw hot debris flying away from the blast site:
Earth is not in the line of fire. The explosion is significant because it may herald an active region set to emerge over the sun's northeastern limb later this week. A new sunspot group could bring an end to weeks of relative quiet. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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TIANGONG SPACE STATION: China's new Tiangong space station is starting to look real. This morning, Sorauta Kobo photographed it flying over Nagoya, Japan:
"For a while, Tiangong grew larger and smaller, but in the early hours of July 25th, the new experimental module #问天实验舱 ('Wentian') docked and it suddenly became like a space station," says Kobo.
Indeed, the profile of the station in Kobo's video resembles the ISS. It has solar arrays, a robotic arm, multiple modules, and two spacecraft (Tianzhou 4 and Shenzhou 14) waiting at docking ports. The ISS is still much larger, but China is catching up.
The growing space station is now about as bright as a 1st magnitude star when it flies overhead in the night sky. To see it, visit Heavens Above and select Tiangong for local flyby predictions.
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"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.
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