WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE STRATOSPHERE? Around the North Pole, the stratosphere has suddenly become very, very cold. NASA satellites are registering temperatures less than -85 C, the threshold for formation of rare polar stratospheric clouds (PSC). In the past few days, colorful PSCs have spilled outside the Arctic Circle, spreading as far south as Scotland. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for these clouds as the outbreak continues.
COMET 96P AT PERIHELION: Today, Comet 96P/Machholz is at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun. Play this movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to see the comet's rapid brightening as it gets blasted by solar heat:
Comet 96P is only 0.12 AU from the sun. For comparison, Mercury is more than 3 times farther away. That means the comet is *hot*. However, heat is not the only reason the comet has brightened so much. Because 96P is almost directly between Earth and the sun, its can experience a phenomenon called "forward scattering." Ice and dust in the comet's tail scatters sunlight toward the Earth, boosting its brightness to a current value near magnitude +0.
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LUNAR OCCULTATION OF MARS: Last night the gibbous Moon passed directly in front of Mars, producing a lunar occultation visible from southern parts of the USA and all of central America. Pete Lardizabal photographed the event from St Johns, Florida:
"Mars disappeared behind the dark edge of the Moon then popped out again on the daylit side," says Lardizabal. "Everything happened so fast; before I knew it the Moon had overtaken Mars and I had to hurry to take these pictures."
The next good lunar occultation of Mars isn't until Jan. 13, 2025.
Until then, here are some more images: from Eliot Herman of Tucson AZ; from Dr. Gilbert Plumer of Rockledge, Florida; from Bob Beal of St. George, Utah; from John Ashley of Rio Rico, Arizona; from Andres Paez Joannis of Chihuahua, Chih. Mexico; from John Vertson of Clovis, CA
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HOWLING WOLF HEART PENDANT: It's the perfect Valentine's gift for a Nature lover. On Jan. 6, 2023, this Howling Wolf Heart Pendant flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky cosmic ray research balloon, floating more than 105,546 ft above the snow-capped Sierras of central California:
You can have it for $99.95. The hypoallergenic heart-shaped pendant features a loving pair of howling Arctic wolves, a shooting star, the full Moon, and sheets of aurora borealis. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendent in flight and telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again.
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