FAST SOLAR WIND: Earth has entered a fast moving stream of solar wind, blowing almost 700 km/s. This is causing minor G1-class geomagnetic storms and auroras around the Arctic Circle on Nov. 29th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
CRYOVOLCANIC COMET PUTS ON A SHOW FOR ALL: At the Chiefland Astronomy Village in Florida, amateur astronomer Bill Williams has been watching the images of cryovolcanic Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann on Spaceweather.com. "I was awestruck, so I decided to check it out for myself," he says. "To my amazement, even short exposures with my 14.5-inch telescope revealed an irregular shape and 'cavities' within the comet's cryomagma shell."
"You don't need a 2.2 meter telescope on a volcano in the Pacific to witness this phenomenon--a regular telescope works just fine," says Williams. "The comet is moving so slowly against the background stars that I took fourteen 15-minute subs at 3310 mm focal length to create this 3.5 hour exposure. Why did I do that, you ask?! Because I could!"
Williams created a labeled sky map to help other amateur astronomers find the comet:
Now is a good time to look. The British Astronomical Association just reported another strong cryovolcanic outburst--the second in less than a week--pushing the comet's integrated brightness up to 12th magnitude. The shell of cryomagna expanding from 29P will now have two concentric layers, along with multiple plumes and cavities. Point your optics here.
more images: from Andrea Aletti at the Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory in Varese, Italy;
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STORM TROOPER WHISKEY GLASS: If you like your drink cold--really cold--this glass is for you. On Nov. 25th, it flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight (117,109 ft), the temperature was a frosty -63C:
You can have it for $99.95. This double-walled whiskey glass is cast from one of the original molds for Storm Trooper helmets used in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. Made of high quality borosilicate, the glass is thin, hard and lead-free. It makes a great Christmas gift for Star Wars fans.
The glass comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
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