HELIOSEISMIC ECHOES FROM THE FARSIDE: Sunspots on the farside of the sun are so large, they are affecting the way the sun vibrates. Helioseismic maps reveal three dark echoes where large sunspots are hidden behind the solar limb. The sun's rotation will turn the nearest toward Earth beginning May 22nd. Stay tuned for an uptick in solar activity. Solar Flare alerts: SMS Text.
1 MOON, 2 PLANETS, AND 24 STARLINK SATELLITES: Last night, Jupiter, the crescent Moon, and Venus lined up in the twilight sky. In Carlsbad, California, Behyar Bakhshandeh was outside watching when a Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base:
"The planets aligned directly above the Falcon 9 rocket trail," says Bakhshandeh.
The rocket carried 24 Starlink satellites to orbit, bringing the total in orbit to 10,394. The Starlink megaconstellation dwarfs the next runner-up, OneWeb, which has "only" 650 satellites. Amazon's Leo constellation is third with 300.
The new Starlinks are second-genertion satellites, twice as massive as the original Starlinks (750 kg vs 306 kg). They have four times the bandwidth of older models and can, in some cases, communicate directly with cellphones on Earth. They're a big improvement in every way--except astronomy.
more images: from Paul D. Maley of Carefree, Arizona; from Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland
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"I NEED MY SPACE" SNOOPY CUP: Do you know someone who "needs their space?" They're going to love this Snoopy cup. It flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, floating more than 105,315 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $129.95. It's Peanuts for a cup from space! The students are selling Snoopy cups to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the cup 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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