SpaceWeather.com Archive — Fri, Aug 8, 2025

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MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A minor G1-class geomagnetic storm is in progress on Aug. 8th--the result of a glancing blow from a CME. High-latitude observers should be alert for auroras, although they may be hard to see because of waxing full moonlight. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

ACTIVE SUN: This has been an active week on the sun. Three large sunspots have grown on the solar disk, joining a half-a-dozen others already present. Together, the active regions have produced more than a dozen M-class solar flares and at least one Earth-directed CME (arriving today). A picture is worth 1000 words:

Amateur astronomer Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana, took the picture yesterday. It shows many sunspots seething with activity on a solar disk criss-crossed by unstable magnetic filaments. The stage is set for more explosions.

Of particular interest is sunspot 4168, the largest on the solar disk. It has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. If such a flare occurs, it could make the previous 7 days seem quiet by comparison. Stay tuned! Solar flare alerts: SMS Text

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NASA SPACEWALKER $1 COINS: The US Mint has just released a new set of limited edition $1 coins to honor NASA's astronaut corps. On July 31st, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched them to the edge of space onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here they are, parachuting back from the stratosphere:

You can have a single coin for $49.95 or an entire unbroken roll for $299.95. No longer available from the US Mint, these rare coins flew 113,949 feet above the Sierra Nevada. One side shows an American astronaut conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station; the other side features the Statue of Liberty in profile.

Bonus: If you need to, you can spend these coins. They're real legal tender.

The students are selling space coins to support to support their cosmic ray research program. (Helium is expensive!) Each order comes with a greeting card showing the coins in flight and telling the story of their journey to the stratosphere and back again.