BIG FARSIDE SUNSPOTS: We can't see them, but they are there. Multiple large sunspots are crossing the farside of the sun. Helioseismic maps show where they are located. On Mars, the Perseverance rover can see two of them using its low-resolution MASTCAM camera. They are whoppers. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1): NOAA forecasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on July 15th when a CME is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. SOHO coronagraphs watched the lopsided halo leave the sun on July 11th:
The CME was hurled into space by an erupting magnetic filament in the sun's southern hemisphere. Because of the explosion's southerly location, most of the CME will sail south of our planet. A glancing blow from its northern flank, however, may be enough to cause a minor geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
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A MORNING MIRAGE: Yesterday, when the sun rose over the Adriatic coast of Italy, some of the sun seemed to drip back into the sea. David Marshall photographed the phenomenon from San Benedetto del Tronto:
It's a mirage, of course. Water offshore was warmer than the morning air above it, creating a temperature gradient in the low atmosphere. This gradient bent and flipped an image of the real sun, squashing it into a lava-like blob near the water's surface--a mirage called "the omega sun." Note the distorted dark spot on the solar disk. That's sunspot AR3363. It's being miraged, too.
"It was one of most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen," says Marshall. "I was not expecting to see the shape of the sun so heavily distorted, and being able to see sunspot AR3363 was a treat!"
more mirages: from Martin Gembec of Korcula, Croatia
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HOWLING WOLF HEART PENDANT: It's the perfect 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.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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