SpaceWeather.com Archive — Sun, Jul 14, 2024

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STARLINK SATELLITES MIGHT RE-ENTER SOON: As many as 20 Starlink satellites could soon be re-entering Earth's atmosphere following the failure of a Falcon 9 rocket on July 11th. The satellites were delivered to Earth orbit, but too low to escape the drag of the atmosphere below. Re-entry times are still uncertain, so stay tuned. This is what a Starlink re-entry looks like.

X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot AR3738 erupted on July 14th (0235 UT), producing an X1.2-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over Australia, southeast Asia and Japan. Mariners and ham radio operators in the area may have noticed a 30-minute loss of signal at all frequencies below 25 MHz.

So far, no CMEs have been detected in available coronagraph imagery. The explosion might not have lasted long enough to lift a CME out of the sun's atmosphere.

More explosions are in the offing. AR3738 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field' that harbors energy for additional X-class solar flares. Solar flare alerts: SMS Tex t

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GLOW-IN-THE-DARK AURORA PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Glow-in-the-Dark Aurora Pendant. On July 8, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have it for $99.95. For 3 hours, the necklace floated 106,444 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California while radiation sensors inside the balloon's payload gathered data for the students' cosmic ray monitoring project. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and explaining the Earth to Sky Calculus radiation experiment.

The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space jewelry to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now!