A CME IS ABOUT TO HIT VENUS: Yesterday, the sun hurled a CME straight toward Venus. A NASA model predicts it will strike on July 4th. The impact will erode a small amount of Venus's atmosphere, but there's still plenty left, so no harm done. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
A SHADOW FALLS ACROSS SATURN: Saturn is putting on a rare and subtle show: Titan’s shadow is drifting across the planet’s cloud tops, and we're squarely in the middle of the season to see it. On July 2nd, Thomas Jorgenson of Neenah, WI, photographed the most recent transit:
"It was a solar eclipse on Saturn!" says Jorgenson. "I captured it using a classic Meade 10" LX200 telescope."
Titan shadow transits are rare. They happen only during Saturn's equinoxes, which occur roughly every 15 years. That season has arrived. From May through early October 2025, backyard astronomers in the Americas can witness Titan’s inky shadow cross the ringed planet's cloudtops.
Sky & Telescope's excellent article on this topic gives a timetable of future transits:
These transits are slow-moving and surprisingly photogenic. Titan is the second-largest moon in the solar system, so it casts a shadow that’s darker and sharper than most observers expect.
The next transit is July 18th. Saturn will rise over the Americas around midnight, and be halfway up the sky when the shadow crosses the central meridian of Saturn's disk. Submit your photos here!
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STERLING SILVER STARCAT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Introducing the Sterling SIlver StarCat. On June 14th, this pendant hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $199.95. The silver feline form is wrapped around a genuine moonstone with a matching 18 inch Italian sterling silver chain. It is 100% hypoallergenic.
The students of Earth to Sky are selling space pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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