SpaceWeather.com Archive — Fri, Jun 14, 2024

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ARCTIC RADIOS ARE WORKING AGAIN: A solar radiation storm that has blocked Arctic shortwave radio propagation for the past 2 days is finally subsiding. The almost-S1 category event was caused by an explosion on the farside of the sun. You might not think that would be possible, but certain locations on the sun's farside are connected to Earth via the magnetic Parker spiral. Shortwave frequencies between 15 MHz and 30 MHz are now clear for over-the-pole communication. Radiation storm alerts: SMS Tex t

VENUS IS SO CLOSE TO THE SUN: Venus is emerging from a rare "anti-transit" of the sun. During the first week of June, it passed directly behind the solar disk, rendering the planet invisible even to SOHO coronagraphs. Less than 80 hours after it reappeared, Bartosz Wojczyński photographed Venus from La Palma, Spain:

"When I took this picture on June 8th, Venus was only 53 arc minutes from the edge of the solar disk," says Wojczyński. "The planet appears vertically elongated and split into different colors as a result of extreme atmospheric dispersion at the horizon."

This extreme sunset sky show is about to gain a planet. On June 17th, Mercury will join Venus for a conjunction less than 1 degree wide. Photographing the two worlds so deep in the sun's glare will be almost impossible. On the other hand, Wojczyński's photo is already halfway there. Stay tuned.

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HANDMADE TOTAL ECLIPSE PENDANT: On April 8, 2024, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray research balloon to the stratosphere. This handmade pendant went along for the ride. Floating more than 118,110 feet high, the it spent 3 minutes and 45 seconds wrapped in the shadow of the Moon:

You can have it for $179.95. Created by an artist in Texas where totality occured, the pendant displays a solar eclipse art print sealed under a smooth glass cover. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space during the total eclipse.