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Best of the Web: Major solar storm: Northern lights visible in northern US, power and communication at risk

Advaita Suresh
The Economic Times
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 20:31 UTC
Northern lights were visible in Colorado on Sunday night
Northern lights were visible in Colorado on Sunday night
Earth is currently undergoing multiple solar storms that potentially have the capability to interrupt power grids, satellite communications, and internet connectivity. These storms happen when bursts of plasma emerge from the Sun's outer layer, temporarily disturbing the planet's magnetic field. According to Daily Mail, the recent geomagnetic activity started with a G3 storm late Sunday evening, followed by a G2 event on Monday. While G1 and G2 storms generally produce minor disturbances, G3 storms are stronger and can trigger significant fluctuations in power systems, temporary radio outages, and intermittent satellite interruptions.

Impacts on Technology and Infrastructure

One of the most major impacts has been found with Starlink satellites, the internet service operated by Elon Musk. The company reported over 50,000 complaints from subscribers across different states such as California, Missouri, and New York. The largest solar burst on Sunday caused a total internet outage impacting almost 40 percent of Starlink users, as cited by Daily Mail.

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Comet 2

Bright comet surprises astronomers


SpaceWeather.com
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 22:05 UTC
A bright comet has emerged from behind the sun, surprising astronomers. Introducing, Comet SWAN25B;

CometSwan25B
© SpaceFlux
"The comet is magnitude 7.5, bright enough to see with backyard telescopes," reports Ernesto Guido. "This is our confirmation image taken just a couple hours ago via the Spaceflux network."

The comet is named after the SWAN camera onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly noticed the comet in online images. SWAN is a special camera that maps hydrogen in the solar wind, which suggests this comet may be rich in the element.

Comment: For more information, see:

Why didn't Comet ISON melt in the Sun? How NASA and Official Science got it all wrong (again)

Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection

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Meet 2025 PN7, Earth's newfound quasi-moon

David L. Chandler
Sky & Telescope
Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:13 UTC
Just discovered, it's been orbiting the Sun alongside Earth for decades, and will continue to do so for decades more.

Our home planet just got a new companion — or at least, a newfound one.

We know the Earth only has one true Moon. But we've also known for a while that our planet is currently accompanied by seven other small asteroids that seem to circle around us, even though they don't really orbit Earth as a true moon would. These objects, known as quasi-moons, tend only to inhabit Earth-accompanying orbits for short periods — years or decades, sometimes centuries.

2025 PN7
© NASA / JPL-CaltechEarth's orbit around the Sun (in blue) contrasts with that of one of its seven quasi-moons, 469219 Kamo'oalewa (shown in yellow and labeled with its provisional designation 2016 HO3). Now, the discovery of 2025 PN7 might have upped the number of Earth's quasi-companions to eight. These objects orbit the Sun but in a way that makes them appear to accompany Earth. The large yellow circle traces Kamo'oalewa's orbit around the Sun; over many orbits, though, the object also traces the series of loops around Earth shown to the right.
Now, it turns out, there's a new quasi-moon in town. Just discovered on August 29th by the Pan-STARRS observatory on Haleakala, Hawai'i, asteroid 2025 PN7 was quickly confirmed by other observatories. Earlier images of the object extend back to 2014. It now appears to have been on a quasi-moon orbit for about 60 years, and it will remain so for about 60 more. Eventually, though, it will revert to a horseshoe orbit, one that brings it periodically close to Earth only to back away again, never completing a full circle around our planet.

Alan Harris (Space Science Institute), in a posting on the Minor Planets Mailing List (MPML), writes that its velocity relative to Earth of 3.4 km/s (7,600 mph) is higher than would be expected from lunar ejecta. He adds that it's "most likely just an asteroid that has trickled into a near-Earth orbit from the inner main belt."

At some point in the future, gravitational interactions may eject it from Earth's vicinity altogether. "Some future close encounter with Earth could put it on an orbit that intersects either (or both) Mars or Venus," Harris writes.
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Never-before-seen kind of supernova spotted after using AI to scan the skies

Elizabeth Howell
Live Science
Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:37 UTC
With help from AI, astronomers have spotted a never-before-seen kind of supernova that seems to have been blowing up just as it was trying to gobble down a black hole.
Supernova SN 2023zkd
© Melissa Weiss/CfAAn artist's impression of the events leading up to supernova SN 2023zkd, which likely occurred when a star attempted to swallow a nearby black hole. Here, the star's shape is stretched by the black hole's massive gravitational forces.
Scientists may have spotted a never-before-seen kind of supernova, after using a Spotify-like artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the skies for strange activity.

The AI unearthed signs of what could have been a huge star blowing up just as it was attempting to gulp down a nearby black hole.

The stellar explosion, dubbed SN 2023zkd, was spotted in July 2023 with the Zwicky Transient Facility, a full-sky astronomical survey based at the Palomar Observatory in California. But Zwicky didn't find the explosion through happenstance. Rather, it was guided to the right spot using an algorithm optimized to find weird night-sky activity.
Spotting the signs of a supernova early is key to catching how supernovas start, evolve and then fade away — providing insight into how these explosions work.

In this case, the AI found unusual brightenings months before the explosion happened, study co-lead authors Alex Gagliano, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute For AI and Fundamental Interactions, and Ashley Villar, a supernova researcher and assistant professor at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Live Science in an email.

This quick alert enabled a number of large observatories to get in on the action and provide observations across a large spectrum of wavelengths.
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Orion Nebula, Pleiades and Hyades share a common origin says new study


University of Bonn
Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:56 UTC
The trio of star clusters Orion Nebula, Pleiades and Hyades do not just randomly lie in the same region of space.
constellation Orion with the Orion Nebula Cluster
© Aladin sky atlas/CDS Strasbourg Observatory (France)The image shows - the constellation Orion with the Orion Nebula Cluster as the central “star” in the sword of Orion, the Pleiades and the Hyades. All three open clusters are highlighted by large yellow circles.
Orion Nebula, Pleiades and Hyades: The latest research results indicate that these famous star clusters represent the different phases of life of one and the same star system. A team of astrophysicists at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences in Zanjan, Iran, and the University of Bonn have found evidence that these three star systems are not just located in roughly the same region of space but also developed in the same way. These results were recently published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

When the stars twinkle in the night sky, you can see the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) and Hyades right next to one another with the naked eye, not far from the central "star" in Orion's Sword. It isn't really one star but rather the Orion Nebula Cluster - and thus the third of a group of star clusters.

However, the clusters in this trio are of different ages and at varying distances away from Earth. The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) is one of the youngest and most active star-forming regions in the Milky Way - at just 2.5 million years old and around 1,350 light years away. It contains thousands of young stars surrounded by the residual cloud of gas from which they were formed. In contrast, Pleiades, which is also known as the Seven Sisters, is about 100 million years old and its stars are much more widely scattered, while Hyades is around 700 million years old and contains fewer stars that are even more widely dispersed.
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For the first time, astronomers witness the dawn of a new solar system


European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:18 UTC
HOPS-315
© ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. The image was taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. Together with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these observations show that hot minerals are beginning to solidify.

In orange we see the distribution of carbon monoxide, blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped wind. In blue we see a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, also beaming away from the star. These gaseous winds and jets are common around baby stars like HOPS-315.

Together the ALMA and JWST observations indicate that, in addition to these features, there is also a disc of gaseous silicon monoxide around the star that is condensing into solid silicates –– the first stages of planetary formation.
International researchers have, for the first time, pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the Sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first specks of planet-forming material — hot minerals just beginning to solidify. This finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage in its formation and opens a window to the past of our own Solar System.

"For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun," says Melissa McClure, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and lead author of the new study, published today in Nature.

Co-author Merel van 't Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, USA, compares their findings to "a picture of the baby Solar System", saying that "we're seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form."

This newborn planetary system is emerging around HOPS-315, a 'proto' or baby star that sits some 1300 light-years away from us and is an analogue of the nascent Sun. Around such baby stars, astronomers often see discs of gas and dust known as 'protoplanetary discs', which are the birthplaces of new planets. While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive, Jupiter-like planets, McClure says, "we've always known that the first solid parts of planets, or 'planetesimals', must form further back in time, at earlier stages."
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Prehistoric star map carved in stone discovered in Bulgaria

Leman Altuntaş
Arkeonews Net
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 03:46 UTC
A prehistoric star map
© Photos courtesy of Georgi Georgiev.A prehistoric star map carved in stone near Skobelevo village is believed to be one of the oldest known depictions of the night sky.
A recently uncovered archaeological site in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria is now entering the scientific spotlight. In a statement shared directly with us by researcher Georgi Georgiev, one of the site's discoverers, the carved rock near the village of Skobelevo is believed to represent a prehistoric star map — possibly one of the earliest known attempts to depict the night sky in stone. The find promises to redefine our understanding of ancient astronomy and the spiritual life of early civilizations in the Balkans.

This unique find not only adds a significant piece to the puzzle of human history but also opens new avenues in the field of archaeoastronomy.

An Accidental Discovery with Historic Significance

The star-studded rock was discovered on May 20, 2013, by researchers Georgi Georgiev and Ivelina Georgieva during a field expedition near an ancient Thracian necropolis. Measuring approximately 2×3 meters, the rock lies deep in the forest, oriented along an east-west axis and embedded with a natural marble vein. This luminous vein is thought to symbolize the Milky Way, further supporting its interpretation as a celestial map.

The stone's surface features 56 meticulously carved conical holes of various diameters — 24 in the northern half and 32 in the southern — representing stars of different magnitudes. Several constellations are clearly outlined, including Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and Leo, with additional alignments suggesting Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Lyra, and the Pleiades star cluster.
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Cassiopaea

Another naked-eye Nova, this time in constellation Vela


Spaceweather
Sun, 29 Jun 2025 17:14 UTC
A star exploded June 25th in the southern constellation Vela, and it is already visible to the unaided eye (magnitude +4.8). Eliot Herman photographed V572 Velorum using a robotic telescope in the Rio Hurtado Valley of Chile:

Nova V572
© Taken by Eliot Herman on June 27, 2025 @ Rio Hurtado Valley, ChileTwo bright nova in recent days after a long drought. Both in southern sky. This one was discovered on June 25 2025 in Vela. Captured with iTelescope T72 in Chile. This nova is about mag 5.0.
"After a long drought, this is the second bright nova discovered this month," says Herman.

This appears to be a "classical nova." First documented by Chinese astronomers some 2000 years ago, these explosions occur in binary star systems. White dwarf stars steal gas from a bloated partner until the stolen fuel ignites in a sudden thermonuclear blast.

Novas that you can see with your unaided eye magnitude are uncommon. Typically, they appear no more than about once a year. However, in June 2025 there have been two such novas in quick succession : First V462 Lupi and now V572 Velorum. Southern sky watchers, submit your photos here.
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Cassiopaea

Bright nova lights up Lupus Constellation

Bob King
Sky & Telescope Org
Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:24 UTC
A newly-discovered nova in Lupus is on the rise and approaching naked-eye visibility. Here's how to see it.
Nova in Lupus
© Piqui DiazThe new nova in Lupus, formally named V462 Lupi, shines here at around magnitude 8.5 on June 15.2 UT. Photo taken through 8×42 binoculars with a smartphone. The nova's coordinates (J2000) are RA 15h 08m 03.3s, Dec. –40° 08″ 29.6′. North is up.
Exciting news! On June 12th (June 12.9 UT), the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) discovered a new 8.7-magnitude stellar object in Lupus. Not long after, Yusuke Tampo, with the South African Astronomical Observatory (University of Cape Town), obtained a spectrum of the "new star" and identified it as a classical nova based on its spectral features and dramatic increase in brightness.

The nova went through a slew of temporary names — AT 2025nlr, ASASSN-25cm, and N Lup 2025 — until receiving its official designation V462 Lupi on June 16th. Since discovery, the nova has brightened rapidly. As of 8 p.m. Eastern Time June 16th, it's at magnitude 6.4 and flirting with naked-eye visibility. The magnitude rise has been phenomenal when you consider that prior to the explosion, the progenitor star was approximately magnitude 22.3 (in the blue band) according to American Association for Variable Stars (AAVSO) observer Sebastián Otero, who dug up an older image from a photographic plate.
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Fireball 2

Meteor fireball flashes through skies in Sydney as Aurora Australis seen across southern New South Wales, Australia on June 1

Declan Bowring
abc.net.au
Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:20 UTC
Footage from Mount Riverview shows the object flashing green before breaking into smaller pieces.
© Karisha DaviesFootage from Mount Riverview shows the object flashing green before breaking into smaller pieces.
A bright flash of light that briefly lit up the Sydney sky on Sunday night was not a rogue Vivid installation but is believed to have been a meteor.

Sydney resident Tom McCallister said he was waiting at traffic lights about 6pm when he saw the light appear in the sky.

"It travelled right across in front of us and glowed a bright green before it broke up and faded," Mr McCallister said.

"I was luckily on the ball and had my phone to hand to quickly capture the last few seconds of its flight."

A meteor differs from space debris, and is described by the Bureau of Meteorology as a phenomenon occurring when rocks enter Earth's atmosphere and the high friction causes a streak of light to appear in the sky.

In a video taken in Mount Riverview by resident Karisha Davies, the object can be seen flashing green before breaking into smaller pieces.

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