GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1): Earth's magnetic field is reverberating from a CME strike on May 17th, which sparked a short-lived G2-class geomagnetic storm. Another CME is on the way, say NOAA forecasters, and it could deliver a glancing blow on May 19th. Minor G1-class storms are possible when the next CME arrives. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
THE SUN JUST RIPPED OFF A COMET'S TAIL: Earth isn't the only celestial body experiencing extreme space weather. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks just got hit, too. The effects of a CME strike are shown in this May 15th photo taken by Ujvárosi Beáta using a remote-controlled telescope in Hakos, Namibia:
Note the structure near the comet's nucleus (inset). This is called a "disconnection event." It's caused by a CME (or fast solar wind stream) hitting the comet. One of the earliest recorded examples of this phenomenon occured in April 2007 when NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft watched a CME strike Comet Encke and rip its tail completely off: movie.
"Current images of Comet 12P clearly show the effects of stormy space weather conditions with its tail 'ripped off' by solar wind," says Beáta.
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STRONG SOLAR FLARE: New sunspot AR3685 erupted yesterday (May 17th at 2108 UT), producing a strong M7-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the explosion:
This follows an X3-flare (movie) from the same sunspot on May 15th. Neither of these flares was squarely Earth-directed because of the sunspot's location near the sun's SE limb. The geometry is changing, though. Next week, eruptions from AR3685 will target our planet. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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18K GOLD TOTAL ECLIPSE PENDANT: This pendant has touched the shadow of the Moon. On April 8, 2024, during a total eclipse of the sun in Texas, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Floating more than 118,110 feet high, the locket spent 3 minutes and 45 seconds wrapped in lunar shadow:
You can have it for $199.95. The 18K gold-plated locket is inscribed with the words "I love you to the Moon and back," and opens to hold a personal photo or other small item. It comes with a greeting card showing the locket in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space during the total eclipse.
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