Chinese Space Station Crosses the Sun

Source - Space Weather News for June 21, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

SPACE STATION TRANSIT: China's Tiangong-1 space station, now crewed by three taikonauts, passed in front of the sun over the south of France this week.  Astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured must-see images of the transit, featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com

SOLSTICE SOLAR FLARE:  The first day of summer in the northern hemisphere began with a long-duration M2-class solar flare.  The source was active sunspot AR1777.  The blast was not Earth-directed, but future flares from AR1777 could be as the active region turns toward our planet this weekend.  Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

Chinese Space Station Transits the Sun

Source - Space Weather News for May 14, 2012: http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR TRANSIT: A photographer in France has caught China's experimental space station, the Tiangong-1, passing directly in front of the sun.  The photo shows the winged spacecraft backlit by hot plasma as it flits across the solar disk in the neighborhood of giant sunspot AR1476.  Check it out on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

TIANGONG-1 SIGHTINGS:  The Tiangong-1 is much smaller than the International Space Station.  Nevertheless, it can be seen with the naked eye shining in the night sky as brightly as the stars of the Big Dipper.  Download the Simple Flybys app for sighting opportunities in your neighborhood: http://simpleflybys.com