GLANCING-BLOW CME POSSIBLE THIS WEEK: Yesterday's M8.6-class solar flare (movie) produced a faint CME. NOAA analysts have determined that it might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 4th. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on that date. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
TONIGHT VENUS KISSES JUPITER: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Venus and Jupiter are shining through the twilight only 0.5 degrees apart. Petr Horálek photographed the conjunction from the Maldives:
"What a beautiful Venus-Jupiter conjunction after such colorful dusk over Thoddoo Island today," says Horalek. "Wow!"
more images: from Piotr Potepa of Torun, Poland; from Jim Peacock of Red Cliff, Wisconsin; from Heiko Ulbricht of Saxony, Germany; from Glen Wurden of Los Alamos, New Mexico; from Andres Paez Joannis of Chihuahua, Chih. Mexico; from Michael Jaeger of Maria Laach, Jauerling, Austria; from Chung-en Lee of Tainan, Taiwan;
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ANOTHER STRONG SOLAR FLARE (UPDATED): Sunspot AR3234 exploded yesterday, Feb. 28th at 1750 UTC, producing an M8.6-class solar flare only percentage points below X-class. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:
An impulsive burst of X-rays ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Aviators and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal below 30 MHz for more than 30 minutes after the flare.
There was also a faint CME associated with this event, first observed in coronagraph imagery at 1848 UTC. NOAA analysts are modeling the CME now to assess any possible Earth-directed component. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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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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