MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible today, Feb. 7th, as Earth transits a high-speed stream of solar wind. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras mixed with almost full moonlight. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
FARSIDE SOLAR ACTIVITY: What just exploded on the farside of the sun? It's a good question:
Punctuation-shaped plumes of plasma flew over the sun's southeastern limb on Feb. 7th, likely heralding the approach of an active sunspot. The eruption pictured above produced an M1-class solar flare and a low-frequency radio blackout over the South Atlantic Ocean: map. Ham radio operators and mariners may have noticed unusual propagation effects below 15 MHz for as much as an hour after 1355 UTC. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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SUNSPOT GENESIS (UPDATED): Since yesterday, the sunspot has doubled. This 24-hour movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the profusion of new dark cores:
One of the new sunspots (AR3213) has an unstable 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. It is almost directly facing Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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18K GOLD CUPID'S COMPASS: Are you looking for a romantic gift? Consider Cupid's Compass. This premuim 18K gold-filled pendant flew to the stratosphere on Jan. 6th onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $229.95. Engraved with the words "I'd be lost without you", the hypoallergenic pendant has a 5-star cubic zirconia crystal in the middle surrounded by a ring of equally high-grade 5A cubic zirconia nuggets. It is a visually striking pendant that makes a once-in-a-lifetime Valentine's, anniversary or birthday gift.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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All sales support hands-on STEM education
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