HIGH-SPEED SOLAR WIND STREAM: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible today in response to a high-speed stream of solar wind. The gaseous material is blowing around Earth as fast as 700 km/s (1.6 million mph). Arctic sky watchers and international flyers with window seats should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
THE SUNSPOT REPORT FROM MARS: For the next two months, NASA's Perseverance rover will have an extra job--solar astronomer. Mars is passing behind the sun, and this gives the rover a view of the sun's farside, allowing it to monitor sunspots we cannot see from Earth. Here is the latest image from Jezero Crater on Nov. 25th:
Approximately once a day, Perseverance looks at the sun using its Mastcam-Z (stereo mast-mounted camera). It does this to assess the amount of dust in the air--an important factor in martian weather forecasting. Seeing sunspots is a bonus.
Mastcam-Z isn't designed for solar observations. It can only put 90 pixels across the solar disk. This means sunspots have to be big to show up.
This week there is a very large sunspot indeed. Perseverance's images reveal a farside behemoth about 15 Earth-diameters wide. This sunspot will turn toward Earth next week, potentially bringing an increase in solar activity.
Mars will be passing behind the sun in December 2025 and January 2026. Stay tuned for more sunspot reports from the Red Planet!
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Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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