A HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: An equatorial hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind toward Earth. The gaseous material should arrive on Nov. 6-7, possibly sparking G1-class geomagnetic storms. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SIGNIFICANT SOLAR FLARE AND CME: Sunspot complex 4272 exploded this morning (Nov. 3rd @ 10:11 UTC), producing an M5-class solar flare. The hours-long explosion hurled a bright CME into space, shown here in a movie from NOAA's CCOR-1 coronagraph:
According to a preliminary NASA model, the CME might graze Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 6th. Even a glancing blow could spark a G1-class geomagnetic storm.
This could be the begining of a stormy week. Sunspot 4272 and the larger spots trailing it are emerging from the farside of the sun where they unleashed numerous CMEs in late October. If they continue to be active, Earth could be in the strike zone of more CMEs soon. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
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WORLD CHAMPION DODGERS SPACE BASEBALL: Move over, Shohei Ohtani. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus just set a new home run record. This Dodger ball launched by the students sailed 123 kilometers and touched the edge of space:
You can have it for $99.95. It's a great gift for anyone celebrating the Dodger's narrow 2025 World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The baseball traveled to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray balloon, alongside X-ray and gamma-ray sensors that the students use to study atmospheric radiation. After the data were collected, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing in the desert near Gemfield, Nevada, more than 123 km from the California launch site. At the apex of the flight, the baseball was 35.4 km above the ground, experiencing temperatures as low as -62 C and air pressures only 0.2% of sea level. Now that's a homer.
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