BIRTH OF A NEW METEOR SHOWER? A new preprint by respected meteor forecaster Jeremie Vaubaillon and colleagues urges sky watchers to be alert for a new southern hemisphere meteor shower in Dec. 2023. "We predict the birth of a new shower on Dec. 12, 2023, between 8:00 and 12:30 UT," the authors write. "The location of the radiant is close to the star λ-Sculptoris star, so a possible name for the shower is λ-Sculptorids." The source of the display, if it occurs, would be Comet 46P/Wirtanen. [full story]
A NEW SOURCE OF FLARES: New sunspot AR3513 is rapidly growing and crackling with M-class solar flares. The explosions will become geoeffective later this week when the sunspot turns toward Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
Above: New sunspot AR3513 has produced more than a dozen solar flares since it emerged on Dec. 5th.
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