[SFDXA] A VERY GOOD PERSEID METEOR SHOWER & Solar Cycle 25

[Bill]

*A VERY GOOD PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: * Forecasters are predicting the 
best Perseid meteor shower in years this weekend. On Saturday night, 
*Aug. 12-13*, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from Comet 
109P/Swift-Tuttle, causing dozens of meteors per hour to streak out of 
the constellation Perseus. The nearly New Moon will make the display 
unusually easy to see from dark-sky sites. Book a campsite and enjoy the 
show: Observing tips 
<https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/meteors/get-ready-for-a-great-perseid-meteor-shower/>.

Dan Bush photographed this bright Perseid, an early arrival on Aug. 
11th, using an automated camera in Albany, Missouri:

<https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=198607>

"It flashed across the sky around 1:30 a.m.," says Bush. "There were 
other Perseid meteors but none as bright as this one."

Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery 
<https://spaceweathergallery2.com/index.php?title=meteor&title2=fireball>*
Free:* Spaceweather.com Newsletter <https://spaceweather.com/services>

*SOLAR CYCLE UPDATE:* This website, Spaceweather.com, began in 1997 with 
the first stirrings of Solar Cycle 23 (SC23). The timing was right. In 
the years that followed, SC23 produced the strongest solar flare 
<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2003GL019345> 
of the Space Age (X45), the infamous Halloween Storms 
<https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2021/10/28/the-day-earth-lost-half-its-satellites-halloween-storms-2003/> 
of 2003, and multiple episodes of Northern Lights as far south as Texas 
<https://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01oct03_page8.html> and 
California <https://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01oct03_page3.html>. 
Could it happen again? New Solar Cycle 25 is heading in the same direction:

<https://spaceweather.com/images2023/11aug23/sc_update.jpg>

This summer, sunspot counts have hit their highest values in more than 
20 years, sharply exceeding official forecasts and putting them squarely 
in the ballpark of Solar Cycle 23. It's just like old times.

With Solar Max not expected for another year (or more), sunspot counts 
should continue to increase, further widening the gap between Solar 
Cycle 25 and its historically weak 
<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2004GL021664> 
predecessor Solar Cycle 24. If, indeed, Solar Cycle 25 does leapfrog 
Solar Cycle 24 and land in the vicinity of Solar Cycle 23, we can expect 
at least 3 to 5 years of high solar activity in the years ahead. Stay 
tuned. *Solar flare alerts:* SMS Text <https://spaceweatheralerts.com>

https://spaceweather.com/
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