THE SUN IS CRACKLING WITH FLARES: Growing sunspot AR3234 is crackling with solar flares, including more than half a dozen M-class events since Monday. Pulses of radiation are ionizing the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a rolling series of shortwave radio blackouts around all longitudes of our planet. This sunspot will become even more geoeffective in the days ahead as it continues to turn toward Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SUNSET SKY SHOW: Around the world, people are watching Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon line up in the sunset sky. Jan Jackson took this picture last night in Ziheautanejo, Mexico:
"The planets were so bright, we could photograph them with nothing more than a cell phone," says Jackson.
There's something different to see every night. Tonight, the Moon moves up and passes close to Jupiter (Pro tip: Be alert for Earthshine.) Tomorrow, there will be a nearly-vertical Moon-Jupiter-Venus line in the sky. Sky maps: Feb. 21, 22, 23.
Best of all, Venus and Jupiter are converging. At closest approach on March 1st, Venus and Jupiter will be just 0.5 degrees apart--a beautiful pairing and one of the best astrophoto-ops of 2023. Take a look and submit your photos here.
more images: from Hari Kumar of Trivandrum, India; from Daniele Gasparri of Nellim, Finland; from Petr Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava) in Thoddoo, Maldives; from Peter Zimnikoval of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; from Marko Posavec of Virje, Croatia
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SOLAR ECLIPSE CRYSTAL PYRAMID: On Aug. 21, 2017, during the Great American Solar Eclipse, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched 11 space weather balloons from the path of totality. The armada soared into the stratosphere, touching the shadow of the Moon more than 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. This pyramid hitched a ride:
You can have it for $159.95. With the sun, Earth, and Moon perfectly aligned, the faces of the 5-sided crystal caught the reflection of the eclipsed sun. Watch the video! The pyramid comes with a gift card showing the crystal floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere and passing through the Moon's shadow. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight and confirms that this gift has been to the edge of space and back again.
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