SpaceWeather.com Archive — Sat, Sep 28, 2024

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QUIET CONDITIONS CONTINUE: No CMEs are heading for Earth and no sunspots are actively flaring. As a result, space weather is expected to be quiet for the second day in a row. This forecast could quickly change if a new sunspot emerging from behind the sun's southeastern limb suddenly erupts. Solar flare alerts: SMS Tex t

COMET TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS IS HEADING FOR EARTH: Yesterday, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) made its closest approach to the sun. Now, its heading for Earth. Michael Mattiazzo photographed the comet on Sept. 27th rising over Lake Boga in Victoria, Australia:

Mattiazzo's time-lapse shows how minutes matter. The comet rises just before the sun. As it climbs out of low clouds and haze, the surrounding sky brightens rapidly. Actually seeing the comet with the human eye requires a short-lived combination of rising altitude and waning darkness.

"Using 8x40mm binoculars, I estimate the comet's magnitude was +2.8 with a 7 degree tail," says Mattiazzo. "It was naked-eye visible, but not yet conspicuous. This will change over the next couple of weeks when, on Oct. 12, the comet has an Earth approach of only 70 million kms (0.43 AU)," he adds.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS could become very bright indeed. On Oct. 9th, it will pass between Earth and the sun. Sunlight forward scattered by comet dust will amplify the comet's brightness to negative magnitudes. If the most optimistic predictions ( m < -5.0) come true, it could be visible even in broad daylight like Comet McNaught in 2007.

Kai Yuan of Zhejiang, China, took this picture of himself and the comet just before sunrise on Sept: 28th:

more images: from Yuri Beletsky of Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; from Ian Griffin of Mount John, South Island, New Zealand; from Jordi L. Coy of Santa Pola, Alicante, Spain; from Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau of Rafaela, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina;

Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
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ASTRONAUT SNOOPY COFFEE CUP: Coffee tastes better in a cup that's been to space. On July 16th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the 'I Need My Space' Snoopy mug to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is floating more than 105,315 feet above Earth's surface:

You can have it for $99.95. It's Peanuts for a cup from space! The students are selling Snoopy cups to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the cup in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.