SOLAR FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT (UPDATED): Sunspot AR3141 exploded on Nov. 7th (0011 UT), producing an impulsive M5-class solar flare. Radiation ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout over the South Pacific, including part of Australia and all of New Zealand: map. The explosion did not produce a CME; all of the debris fell back to the sun. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON TONIGHT: Earth's shadow is about to engulf the Moon. Tonight, there's going to be a total lunar eclipse visible across much of North America and the entire Pacific Ocean: visibility map. Maximum eclipse occurs at 2:59 am PST (10:59 UT) on Nov. 8th.
Additional time zones: EST, CST, MST, PST, HST. Image credit: Larry Koehn, Shadowandsubstance.com
The total phase of the eclipse, when the lunar disk is completely shadowed, lasts 1 hour and 25 minutes. During that time, amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor the darkened lunar surface for flashes of light--the telltale sign of Taurid meteoroids hitting the Moon. The Taurid Swarm is in the area and it might make contact.
Got a picture of the eclipse? Submit it here!
Tune into a live stream of the eclipse from NASA starting at 4 a.m. EST / 1 a.m. PST / 9 a.m. UTC.
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery
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THE SUN JUST SWALLOWED ANOTHER COMET: For the fourth weekend in a row, the sun swallowed a comet. This Nov. 6th movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows the dirty snowball evaporating as it enters the sun's atmosphere:
This comet, RIP, was a Kreutz sungrazer. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. SOHO has seen thousands of them falling into the sun. Most are small and faint, but sometimes big ones appear--in this case, once a week since October. The next one may be coming soon. Look for it!
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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STERLING SILVER HUMMINGBIRD PENDANT: This hummingbird has touched space. On Sept. 22, 2022, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the sterling silver pendant to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, more than 117,710 feet high:
You can have it for $149.95. The students are selling hummingbird pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the bird and red lily in flight, and telling the story of their trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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