THIS ERUPTION WON'T HIT EARTH: New sunspot AR3429 erupted this morning, Sept. 11th (0128 UT), producing an M1.3-class solar flare and a surge of plasma over the sun's northeastern limb:
SOHO coronagraphs observed a fast-moving CME emerging from the blast site. At first it appeared to be on the edge of the Earth-strike zone, set to land a glancing blow later this week. However, a new NASA model shows that the CME will miss Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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COMET NISHIMURA IS NEARING THE SUN: Sundiving Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1) is now deep inside the orbit of Mercury. This morning, when Mike Olason of Tucson, Arizona, tried to photograph the comet, he could barely see it through the glare:
"The comet appeared above the Catalina Mountains on Sept. 11th at 1220UT (520AM) in bright orange twilight skies," says Olason. "The comet's tail was not visible. The comet may not be visible at all tomorrow morning as it rises above the Catalina Mountains 15 minutes later at 535AM in very bright twilight."
Comet Nishimura will make a 0.22 AU close approach to the sun on Sept. 17th. At that time it will experience maximum solar heat, both evaporating and brightening furiously as it executes a hairpin turn around the sun. What will emerge from the glare next week? Stay tuned!
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SOLAR ECLIPSE PENDANT: The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are about to try something never done before--to photograph the shadow of an annular solar eclipse from the stratosphere. On Oct. 14th, they'll launch a cosmic ray research balloon equipped with cameras to photograph the shadow zone of an eclipse over Nevada. You can support the flight by buying a Solar Eclipse Pendant:
It's yours for $99.95. The students launched this pendant on July 17th. Floating at an altitude 105,000 feet above Earth’s surface, it made contact with space, experiencing temperatures as low as -63 C.
Buy the pendent now and for no additional charge we will fly it back to the stratosphere during the annular eclipse. Just make a note in the COMMENTS BOX of your shopping cart: "Fly my pendant again!"
Note: We have photographed the shadow of an eclipse before. Here's what the total eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, looked like from the stratosphere over the Nebraska-Wyoming border:
Total eclipses make deep black shadows, in this case blacking out more than 70 miles of terrain. What does the shadow of an *annular* eclipse look like? We hope to find out. It should be fuzzier around the edges, and not nearly as dark in the middle. An overview from the stratosphere could provide a unique picture.
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