🌞 📰 Sun news for May 5, 2024: Pow, pow, pow! X flare and several almost-X flares

💥 🤩 😱 X flare! AR3663 just can’t stop the flaring. In addition to the X flare, the region produced two almost-X flares, an M9.0 and an M8.4.

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

🌞 📰 💥 🤩 😱 X flare! AR3663 is at it again! It just keeps on flaring. What's next?

MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

X flare! AR3663 is at it again! It just keeps on flaring.
X フレア! AR3663 がまたやってきました! フレアが止まりません。
by EarthSky

まだヘリオビアが動作しない（間もなく48時間）ので、太陽周辺は見れませんが、連続Ｘフレアの様子は別の媒体で見れます。

Lina Tomlin in Texarkana, Texas, caught these mammatus clouds on Monday. Lina wrote: 'I've never been this close to clouds like that. Thrilling!' Thank you, Lina! ☁️ 🌇

See more mammatus clouds at earthsky.org/earth/mammatus…

📸 Lina Tomlin, ECP

🌞 📰 Sun news for May 2, 2024: Exciting active region on the way out

👋 Bye-bye AR654! Sunspot region AR3654 has kept our attention during its journey across the sun

🥳 The region is now well on its way to rotating out of view

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

🌞 📰 Sun news for May 4, 2024: Almost X flare and sun stuff headed to Earth

🫣 🤩 😱 Yesterday’s X1.7 flare produced a CME and after analysis, was determined to be Earth-directed.

😮 🤔 The sun stayed at a high activity level.

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

Saturday morning: Moon among 3 planets 🌘 🪐

Before dawn on May 4, look for the waning crescent moon among a trio of planets.

For more info, visit our night sky guide at earthsky.org/astronomy-esse…

1st American in space 63 years ago today 🚀 👨‍🚀

Alan Shepard's historic first American flight into space aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft took place on May 5, 1961, 63 years ago today.

Read more about this historic flight at earthsky.org/space/alan-she…

Meet astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. On Monday, they'll become the 1st human crew to ride aboard Boeing's Starliner to the International Space Station. Godspeed, Suni and Butch!

Watch Monday's launch here: earthsky.org/spaceflight/bo…

📸 Robert Markowitz/ NASA.

Andrea Iorio in Rome and Fernando Linsalata in Rimini, Italy, combined their data in April for this image of the galaxy M101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy. Thank you, Andrea! 🌌📸

Enjoy this gallery of some of the best deep-sky photos for April 2024.
earthsky.org/todays-image/d…

May’s Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks this weekend. This year, Sunday and Monday mornings will be the best time to watch, and the moon won’t interfere. Do you have questions about the meteor shower? Here are the answers you need:
earthsky.org/astronomy-esse…

📸 Eliot Herman.

🌞 📰 Sun news for May 1, 2024: Almost X flare! More to come?

💥 🤩 👏 At 23:23 UTC on April 30, AR3654 started the release of a flare that almost made it to X, M9.5.

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

🌞 😱 Sun news for April 29, 2024: Giant sunspot continues to grow

🤔 🥳 Sunspot region AR3654 continues to increase in size and maintain its magnetic complexity. We expected more from the region, and it did not disappoint.

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

😱Update Apr 30, 2024: Almost X flare!

👏💥🤩It is always exciting when a sunspot region lives up to its potential. AR3654 has just done that. At 23:23 UTC on Apr 30, the region released a flare that almost made it to X with an M9.5.

🧐MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

🌞 📰 Sun news for May 3, 2024: KABOOM X1.7 flare! Large storm at Earth

💥 🤩 😱Kaboom! The long-awaited X flare is here, from region AR3663, an X1.7 flare

🥳Earlier, on Earth, an unexpected G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm occurred.

🧐MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

Yesterday’s X1.7 flare produced a coronal mass ejection (CME). Now, modeling and analysis shows a component is Earth-bound. The sun-stuff should arrive late May 5 to early May 6. And that means auroras! Read more at: earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-a…

🌞📰Sun news for April 26, 2024: Auroras! More tonight?

🤩We said yesterday that we might get auroras overnight, and we got auroras—there’s still a chance for auroras tonight.

😮Solar activity is back to moderate after 2 M flares.

🧐MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

Did you know? Mercury will be farthest from the sunrise on May 9. Re-emerging in the dawn sky, this apparition will be better for the Southern Hemisphere, but those in the Northern Hemisphere can see it too! 🌌🌄
earthsky.org/astronomy-esse…

📸 John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.

🌞 📰 Sun news for April 27, 2024: Sun stuff brings auroras, more tonight?

🫣 😮 As anticipated, the arrival of CMEs brought a minor geomagnetic storming late yesterday.

🤔 Sun activity returned to low levels.

🧐 MORE at EarthSky: bit.ly/sunactivity

Boeing's Starliner will begin its 1st crewed flight to the International Space Station tomorrow. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday (2:34 UTC on Tuesday, May 7) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Watch the launch here: earthsky.org/spaceflight/bo…

📸 NASA