THE EERIE QUIET CONTINUES: Solar activity remains low for the 7th day in a row--a whole week with lots of sunspots, yet no significant solar flares. The sunspot most likely to break the quiet is AR3555 (S10E45), which has developed an unstable magnetic field with latent energy for M-class eruptions. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
FRESH FRUIT LAUNCHED TO SPACE: Yesterday, China launched a rocket from the South China Sea carrying fresh fruits and vegetables for astronauts onboard the Tiangong space station. Ten minutes later, it flew over the Philippines where vacationing photographers Conor McDonald and Emily Orr watched it climb out of Earth's atmosphere:
"After an amazing day exploring the Philippines, my girlfriend and I sat down with a chamomile tea and observed the sky over Palawan," says Conor. "To our amazement we spotted this large satellite-looking object emitting a large bow of gas or fire."
"At first we thought it was the Peregrine lunar lander crashing back to Earth," he says. "Later we realized it was actually the launch of China's Tianzhou 7 cargo carrier."
China's fleet of Tianzhou spacecraft has recently been upgraded, allowing each one to carry around 16,300 pounds of cargo to China's space station. Only a fraction of Tianzhou 7's contents was fruit, but "the increase in quantity and weight of fresh fruits we are able to deliver this time should improve the quality of astronauts' life in orbit," says Yang Sheng of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The supply vessel has since docked to Tiangong where the crew are unloading equipment and provisions sufficient for 8 months. The next cargo carrier, Tianzhou 8, will launch in August.
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WHERE THE SUNSET IS: Everybody knows where to look for the sunset. Just go outside at the end of the day and face west. At the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, however, that's not the best way.
"Many people visit our observatory for its sunset views," says astronomer Laura-May Abron, "but the most unique sunset view is inside the building, looking through the large eyepiece of our coelostat."
"Yesterday, moody clouds and the current cornucopia of sunspots morphed the sun into a distorted otherworldly spheroid," she says. "We can even catch the green rim, a similar phenomena to the green flash which cannot be seen with the naked eye."
If you live in Los Angeles and wish to see an out-of-this-world sunset, here are directions to the Griffith Observatory.
VALENTINE'S CRYSTAL BEAR AND ROSE: Valentine's Day is coming. Looking for a far-out gift? This Crystal Bear and Rose flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon on Dec. 17th:
You can have it for $129.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space bears to support their high-altitude ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the ursine astronaut in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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