SOLAR WIND STORM IN PROGRESS: Earth has entered a stream of fast-moving solar wind with gusts reaching 700 km/s (1.6 million mph). G1-class geomagnetic storms and high latitude auroras are possible on May 3rd. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
A VERY BIG SUNSPOT: How big is it? Sunspot 4079 is, by far, the biggest sunspot of 2025. It stretches 140,000 km across the solar disk and covers an area equal to 50% of Carrington's sunspot in 1859. Amateur astronomer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau of Rafaela, Argentina, peered into the sunspot's dark heart on May 2nd, and this is what he saw:
The two jet-black cores are each large anough to swallow Earth. They are bristling with hair-like solar fibrils as much as 20 thousand km long. Fibrils are, essentially, magnetic tubes that guide hot plasma in and out of the sunspot. When they start to wave back and forth, it means the sunspot is becoming unstable and about to erupt. Videos of the sunspot show dynamic activity within these structures.
Any solar flares this weekend will be geoeffective as the giant sunspot turns toward Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
more images: from Stuart Green of Preston, Lancashire, UK; from Tulio Roberto Xavier de Aguiar of Belo Horizonte, Brazil ; from Frank J Melillo of Holtsville, NY; from Bum-Suk Yeom of Iksan, South Korea
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BLACK MOONCAT EARRINGS: For the first time ever, earrings have flown to the edge of space. On April 20, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray research balloon, and these Black Mooncat Earrings went along for the ride:
You can have a pair for $149.95. Supported by a sterling silver frame, each black cat is curled around a genuine blue moonstone. The earrings floated through the stratosphere for almost 3 hours, reaching a peak altitude of 110,555 feet. They're the perfect companion for the Geomagnetic Black Cat Pendant.
Each pair of earrings comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of their trip to the stratosphere and back.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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