NO EARTH-DIRECTED CMEs: The sun has produced a handful of CMEs in the past 24 hours. However, none are heading for Earth. Primary sources of activity, including an erupting magnetic filament and crackling sunspot AR3679, are all outside the Earth-strike zone. Geomagnetic storms are unlikely for the rest of this week. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
A "CHRISTMAS STAR" IN MAY: Venus and Jupiter converged today, forming a spectacular pair only 0.25 degrees apart. No one could see it, though, because the conjunction occurred in broad daylight only a few degrees away from the blinding sun. Click to view a SOHO coronagraph movie of the event:
SOHO was able to record the conjunction because its onboard coronagraph creates an artificial eclipse, blocking the glare to reveal stars, planets and CMEs near the sun. In addition to Venus and Jupiter, the Pleiades were nearby, too.
Play the movie again. How many CMEs can you count? Statistics from previous solar cycles show that the sun can produce an average of 5 CMEs per day around Solar Max. Today's movie shows the sun producing that many CMEs in only 15 hours. Solar Max has indeed arrived.
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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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