My book made the weekly bestseller list at my local bookstore! I’m in good company (right above Heated Rivalry) 📚

MLSO K-Cor is now back online, so we can image these structures down to the Sun’s surface (almost).

I’m very happy to see the Artemis II astronauts practising eclipse-viewing safety!

Confirmed: the Artemis II crew have eclipse glasses onboard! (Safety first!)

Whilst everyone is (rightfully!) marvelling at the spectacular Artemis II ‘entire Moon’ eclipse image, this shot is equally as spectacular. This image shows the immediate corona (the ‘inner’ solar atmosphere) we see from Earth during total solar eclipses, peaking out over the Moon’s edge.

A truly amazing photo. The light of the Earth shining back on the left side of the Moon (‘Earthshine’) gives the Moon a 3D texture that we simply don’t see during eclipses from Earth.

The total solar eclipse photographed by the Artemis II crew! The Sun is tiny behind the Moon, so the glow is the diffuse outer atmosphere of the Sun, not visible to their eyes. We’ve not seen additional photos of the inner corona yet, which astronauts saw and we got a sneak peak of last night.

She loves to get involved!

My initial thoughts/explanation to the first solar eclipse images from Artemis II!

The Artemis II crew saw the solar corona for a few minutes on both sides of their 50+ minute journey through the Moon’s shadow (seeing a different side of the solar corona each time). I look forward to seeing any high quality photos taken by the astronauts!

The total solar eclipse seen tonight from Artemis II, versus an eclipse seen from Earth! The difference? For Artemis II, the Moon appears ~60x larger than the Sun (from Earth their size is similar), revealing only a small part of the Sun’s atmosphere (from Earth we see it all!)

As the astronauts enter the shadow, they’ll get a glimpse of the solar atmosphere with their eyes, likely seeing white/red colours with their eyes, before the corona vanishes behind the Moon. Coming out the shadow, they’ll have the same experience with the other side of the Sun!

For the astronauts on Artemis II, the Moon will appear HUGE relative to the Sun – full engulfing the Sun and its corona for most of their trip through the Moon’s shadow. Except…

From Earth’s perspective, the Sun and Moon are a similar size in the sky. During a total solar eclipse, where the Moon fully blocks the Sun’s surface, the contrast change allows us to see the entire solar atmosphere (the corona) encircling the Moon.

A cool thing happening to Artemis II tonight (that I haven’t seen many discussing) – is that the crew will witness a solar eclipse from around the Moon (kind of), likely seeing the Sun’s atmosphere with their eyes alone! (But it won’t look anything like an eclipse from Earth)

This solar flare did not produce any notable eruptions – but this active region will continue facing Earth for a few more days!

The Sun just produced a strong (M7.5-class) #SolarFlare pointed at Earth. With Artemis II astronauts currently en route to the Moon, NASA and collaborators will be closely watching the Sun to best ensure safety of the Artemis crew!

The event went well!

I’m at Boulder Bookstore (an indie bookstore in Boulder, Colorado) this evening, presenting and signing copies of my new book “Space Hazards”!

Meteors, meteorites and fireballs. What are they? And what’s the difference?

And a G3 watch from the Met Office!

Here is a movie of last night’s X1.5-class #SolarFlare! Forecasters are predicting the eruption from this flare could trigger a moderate to strong (G2-G3) geomagnetic storm on Tuesday/Wednesday, although a nearby coronal hole could complicate things somewhat.

‪(Sizeable eruption! But unclear yet as to how strong the Earth-directed component is)‬

The Sun just produced the first X-class #SolarFlare since February 4th. The event clocked in at a X1.4 level, originating from active region AR 14405. This region will rotate to face Earth in the coming days, but any eruptions from this event (TBD) could already glance us.

I’m at the historic Harnack House in Berlin this week for a joint meeting between ESA, NASA & Indian space missions to research the Sun. Today I presented my recently-published work on measurements of unprecedented small-scale structures seen during solar flares!

I just discovered that a video of me discussing solar activity and aurora (filmed for Associated Press) aired in Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier this year. I had no idea!

Today the Sun released an eruptive M2.8-class #SolarFlare! This follows a quiet month on the Sun, so is excitement over this low M-class event an early look into how solar min will feel? The flare did produce an (Earth-directed?) eruption, so perhaps the excitement is justified!

I’m “goated”, according to anonymous student feedback for a class I’m teaching this semester. Can I use this screenshot as a letter of recommendation for every future job I apply for?

Definitely!

Westward flights are typically daytime though! But if it’s a rare night flight, then certainly.