WAITING FOR THE CMEs: A pair of CMEs expected to strike Earth on Sept 8th appear to have missed. NOAA thinks they could be running late. If so, a double impact on Sept 9th could cause a G1-class geomagnetic storm with high-latitude auroras. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
GET READY FOR THE GIANT BLUEBIRD SATELLITES: The largest commercial satellite antennas ever put in orbit are about to fly over the USA, producing a series of "mini trains" over towns and cities in most states.
Introducing the BlueBirds: They've been called "cell phone towers in space," designed to deliver broadband to ordinary phones anywhere on Earth. AST SpaceMobile launched the prototype in 2022, and now there are a dozen in Earth orbit.
The newest BlueBirds are the largest, with flat antennas about the size of a tennis court (2,400 sq ft): BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13 launched together on Aug. 5th. Two of them (12 and 13) have recently unfurled their giant antennas, while BlueBird 11 appears to be in the process.
Few people have been tracking these satellites. Early sightings suggest that they are about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper when they pass directly overhead. This makes them easy naked-eye targets.
This weekend, they could be unusually bright. On Sept. 9th, the orbits of BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13 turned edge-on to the sun. (Sat-jargon: Their "beta angle" is zero.) In this geometry, first-generation BlueBirds brightened to magnitude +0.5 at zenith. If the new ones follow suit, they may outshine the Big Dipper as moving lights of first magnitude.
On Sept. 12-14, The BlueBirds will fly over the USA in a train with 3 to 7 minutes between satellites. Skies will be dark: New Moon is Sept. 10th, and the Moon is below the horizon during almost every evening pass.
All you need to know is when to look. Check out this timetable for major cities. Better yet, sign up for Backyard Astronomy Alerts, and you will receive a text message when the BlueBirds are about to fly over your hometown--sky maps included in every alert.
THE INFRARED OCCULTATION OF JUPITER: On Sept. 8th in broad daylight over Ontario, Canada, the crescent Moon occulted Jupiter. Paul Mortfield observed the event using an infrared filter:
"I used a 685 nm filter," says Mortfield--and that's what made this picture possible. The infrared view of the daytime sky was nearly black, but the Moon and Jupiter shone almost as brightly as ever. The result looks like a nighttime photo, with Jupiter's cloud belts resolved and every crater on the lunar limb in sharp focus.
This was good practice for an even better occultation on Sept. 14th: The Moon will pass in front of Venus in the midday sky over Europe and the UK. Observers with an IR filter will have the best view.
more images: from Richard Sears of Ballico, California
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MILLION-YEAR-OLD METEORITE PENDANT: About one million years ago, this meteorite landed in northern Sweden. On Aug. 25, 2026, we sent it back onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $269.95. This is a spherical fragment of the Muonionalusta Meteorite found near the Muonio River in Sweden. It is contained within a sterling silver cage that hangs from a matching 18-inch chain.
The meteorite comes with a certificate of authenticity, but you can see that it's real using your own eyes. The sphere is crisscrossed by a faint pattern of geometric crystal lines formed by millions of years of slow cooling in space.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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