THREE PLANETS IN THE SUNSET SKY: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Venus and Jupiter are converging in the twilight sky -- noticably closer together every night as they head for a tight conjunction on June 8-9. Soon, Mercury will join the show, too, forming a trio. Browse the sky maps for a preview: May 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, June 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
FARSIDE EXPLOSION TOUCHES EARTH: The farside of the sun is where the action is. Late on May 25th, an unseen sunspot exploded, hurling a magnificent CME into space. NOAA's CCOR-1 coronagraph recorded the blast:
Although the explosion happened on the farside of the sun, it managed to touch our planet. A fusillade of energetic protons hit Earth shortly after the CME appeared, causing an S1-class radiation storm.
You might suppose that protons from a farside explosion would completely miss Earth. However, they were guided in our direction by the Parker Spiral--a magnetic structure that links our planet to regions beyond the sun's western limb.
The radiation storm was relatively minor. It posed no threat to astronauts or air travelers. However, it did cause some short lived "snow" in digital images from Earth-orbiting cameras onboard spy and weather satellites. The storm is over now, but it could resume if the unseen sunspot erupts again. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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NEED BABY YODA, YOU DO: Grogu has been to the stratosphere. The future Jedi left Earth May 21st onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here he is, floating Force-free 107,611 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have him for $99.95. The students are selling Star Wars bobbleheads to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. The Mandalorian is also available. They make great birthday and graduation gifts. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the bobblehead in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
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