#solar cycle 25

[vizthedatum]

her cosmic dance of my transformation (2024)

In the darkness before the seventh night, Durga Maa's fierce gaze seems to ignite.

Did you feel it last night at 01:56 UTC? The X1.8 flare, a powerful eruption from the sun's fiery sea?

I'm obsessed, intrigued, and almost forget what I'm doing,

My body seems to stray, distracted, with all my life's pursuing.

I whisper to anyone who'll hear: "She dances through each 'Nava' night!"

"But," I frantically quicken my voice, "I feel her most when I write."

She dares me to look within, transform the "ratri" of my personhood,

Telling me it's my turn to finally feel self-understood.

Typical me: my energy plummets on this holy day, As 3848 erupts in flame, a cosmic ballet.

Solar Cycle 25 plays out its celestial game, And numbers swirl in my head; there are too many to name.

There are so many to consider!! I tell her with a pleading smile,

25, 7, 9, 3848, 156, 9, 10, 34, 23, 1431 - I rattle off in my style.

But numbers are not why she battles or presents herself here,

She's here to tackle our ego, way hotter than the sun's sphere.

She tears apart thoughts that bind our darkness so tight, Guiding journeys, reminding us of lessons, showing us light.

I love how many colors and forms she takes when she's with me or when she's with you.

One of my favorites is that deep, beautiful, cosmic royal blue.

You know that color, not quite pitch black, but deeper than night?

I imagine that it could crush and destroy any ego just right.

Every year, we celebrate her victory over a demon of lore,

But I think we honor the humanity in him and his death, and more.

Of course, we revere her: stronger than any coronal mass ejection,

Indeed, more potent than any form of earthly conception. This begs the question: Is she a delusion? Is she not real? Or is she humanity's defensive maya of idealistic zeal?

Is she just a tool to pinpoint his Earthly dwelling? The ignorance, chaos, the disconnection ever swelling?

--

I shake my head as if to reset my point, Here, willing, ready for her to anoint.

Happy autumn!!! Shubho hemanto! Happy Durga Pujo! Shubho Sharodiya!

And, oh, did you see? The waxing crescent moon nears its first quarter!

--

- Rose the artist formerly known as she her Pri

~ গোলাপ্রী https://open.substack.com/pub/drrosedasgupta/p/her-cosmic-dance-of-my-transformation https://www.instagram.com/p/DA7oqmkxNJi/

(The cover image (and background for my Instagram poetry) was manipulated from the image of the sun using the AIA 335 (blue) telescope from https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/aiahmi/ on October 9, 2024, at 2:00:50 UT (closest I could get to the flare time))

[recurring-polynya]

☀️happy solar maximum to those who celebrate!!☀️

[swldx]

Geophysical Alert Message wwv

:Issued: 2024 Dec 14 1205 UTC

# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

#

# Geophysical Alert Message

#

Solar-terrestrial indices for 13 December follow.

Solar flux 164 and estimated planetary A-index 4.

The estimated planetary K-index at 1200 UTC on 14 December was 2.67.

Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor.

Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred.

Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor.

Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are likely.

[futurefatum]

NASA NEVER EXPECTED THIS! 23 year high (Tone: 100)

Increased solar activity could lead to geomagnetic storms in early September! Stay updated and be prepared. #SolarStorm #SpaceWeather #NASA

August 31st, 2024 by @StefanBurns NASA NEVER EXPECTED THIS! Sunspots blow past 200 to 23 year high ABOUT THIS VIDEO: The video, titled “NASA NEVER EXPECTED THIS!” hosted by Stefan Burns, discusses recent solar activity and its potential impacts on Earth. Over the past 48 hours, multiple solar storms have been detected, some of which may be Earth-directed. The video highlights a record number…

[neosciencehub]

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Discovers Massive Sunspot with Potential for Solar Flares

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Discovers Massive Sunspot with Potential for #SolarFlares. @neosciencehub #NASA #SDO #SunspotDiscovery #SpaceWeather #EarthImpact #SpaceScience #Astronomy #SolarObservation #SolarPhenomena #SolarDynamics #Astrophysics

In a groundbreaking discovery, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has illuminated a colossal sunspot on the surface of the Sun, harboring energy capable of unleashing M-class solar flares. This development comes as the peak of solar cycle 25 approaches, marked by a surge in solar activities such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), solar flares, and storms. The identified sunspot, named…

[spacenutspod]

Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S03E170 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space and Astronomy news. I'm Anna, your host, and today we have a packed episode covering exciting developments from NASA's Voyager mission to solar flares and lunar rovers. Let's dive into some fascinating stories from across the cosmos. Highlights: - Voyager 2's Ongoing Journey: NASA has made the tough decision to power down the plasma science instrument aboard Voyager 2, now over 12.8 billion miles from Earth, due to diminishing power supply. Despite this, Voyager 2 continues its groundbreaking exploration with four other active instruments, extending its mission well into the 2030s. - Solar Flares and Geomagnetic Storms: The sun unleashed two powerful flares, including an X 7.1 class flare, the second strongest of the current solar cycle. This eruption caused disruptions to radio communications and is expected to trigger a geomagnetic storm, offering a spectacle for Aurora watchers. - Annular Solar Eclipse: Sky watchers in select locations witnessed a stunning annular solar eclipse, transforming the sun into a "ring of fire." This rare celestial event was visible across parts of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, southern Chile, and Argentina. - NASA's Lunar All Terrain Vehicle: As part of the Artemis missions, NASA is developing the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), an unpressurized rover for future lunar exploration. A prototype, the Ground Test Unit (GTU), is being tested at Johnson Space Center to refine the design and ensure safe lunar operations. - Vulcan Centaur Rocket's Second Flight: United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket is set for its second test flight, a crucial step towards certifying it for the US Space Force. This mission, carrying a mass simulator, aims to assess the rocket's performance for future national security missions. - ESA's New Norcia Antenna: The European Space Agency has installed a massive 122-ton reflector dish for its newest deep space communication antenna in New Norcia, Australia. This will enhance ESA's ability to communicate with distant spacecraft and support international missions. For more space news, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. There, you can sign up for our free Daily newsletter, catch up on all the latest space and Astronomy news with our constantly updating newsfeed, and listen to all our previous episodes. Don't forget to follow us on social media. Just search for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, and TikTok. Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe. Sponsor Link: One great deal today from NordVPN...the secure VPN service you need in your life for not very much money. Check out our great deal: www.bitesz.com/nordvpn

[nasa]

Why Isn’t Every Year the Warmest Year on Record?

This just in: 2022 effectively tied for the fifth warmest year since 1880, when our record starts. Here at NASA, we work with our partners at NOAA to track temperatures across Earth’s entire surface, to keep a global record of how our planet is changing.

Overall, Earth is getting hotter.

The warming comes directly from human activities – specifically, the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. We started burning fossil fuels in earnest during the Industrial Revolution. Activities like driving cars and operating factories continue to release greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, where they trap heat in the atmosphere.

So…if we’re causing Earth to warm, why isn’t every year the hottest year on record?

As 2022 shows, the current global warming isn’t uniform. Every single year isn’t necessarily warmer than every previous year, but it is generally warmer than most of the preceding years. There’s a warming trend.

Earth is a really complex system, with various climate patterns, solar activity, and events like volcanic eruptions that can tip things slightly warmer or cooler.

Climate Patterns

While 2021 and 2022 continued a global trend of warming, they were both a little cooler than 2020, largely because of a natural phenomenon known as La Niña.

La Niña is one third of a climate phenomenon called El Niño Southern Oscillation, also known as ENSO, which can have significant effects around the globe. During La Niña years, ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean cool off slightly. La Niña’s twin, El Niño brings warmer temperatures to the central and eastern Pacific. Neutral years bring ocean temperatures in the region closer to the average.

El Niño and La Niña affect more than ocean temperatures – they can bring changes to rainfall patterns, hurricane frequency, and global average temperature.

We’ve been in a La Niña mode the last three, which has slightly cooled global temperatures. That’s one big reason 2021 and 2022 were cooler than 2020 – which was an El Niño year.

Overall warming is still happening. Current El Niño years are warmer than previous El Niño years, and the same goes for La Niña years. In fact, enough overall warming has occurred that most current La Niña years are warmer than most previous El Niño years. This year was the warmest La Niña year on record.

Solar Activity

Our Sun cycles through periods of more and less activity, on a schedule of about every 11 years. Here on Earth, we might receive slightly less energy — heat — from the Sun during quieter periods and slightly more during active periods.

At NASA, we work with NOAA to track the solar cycle. We kicked off a new one – Solar Cycle 25 – after solar minimum in December 2019. Since then, solar activity has been slightly ramping up.

Because we closely track solar activity, we know that over the past several decades, solar activity hasn't been on the rise, while greenhouse gases have. More importantly, the "fingerprints" we see on the climate, including temperature changes in the upper atmosphere, don't fit the what we'd expect from solar-caused warming. Rather they look like what we expect from increased greenhouse warming, verifying a prediction made decades ago by NASA.

Volcanic Eruptions

Throughout history, volcanoes have driven major shifts in Earth’s climate. Large eruptions can release water vapor — a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide — which traps additional warmth within our atmosphere.

On the flip side, eruptions that loft lots of ash and soot into the atmosphere can temporarily cool the climate slightly, by reflecting some sunlight back into space.

Like solar activity, we can monitor volcanic eruptions and tease out their effect on variations in our global temperature.

At the End of the Day, It’s Us

Our satellites, airborne missions, and measurements from the ground give us a comprehensive picture of what’s happening on Earth every day. We also have computer models that can skillfully recreate Earth’s climate.

By combining the two, we can see what would happen to global temperature if all the changes were caused by natural forces, like volcanic eruptions or ENSO. By looking at the fingerprints each of these climate drivers leave in our models, it’s perfectly clear: The current global warming we’re experiencing is caused by humans.

For more information about climate change, visit climate.nasa.gov.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[elminx]

Energy Update: Mercury Retrograde, Nov-Dec 2024

Starting on November 25, Mercury enters its fourth and final retrograde of 2024. The retrograde runs from 22° to 06° Sagittarius and makes thrice repeating aspects with Jupiter in Gemini, Saturn in Pisces, and Chiron in Aries. Mercury will also conjunct the Sun (as it does every retrograde) and trine retrograde Mars in Leo.

The Basics

Mercury, our planet of communication, technology, and travel, is the fastest-moving planet in our solar system and retrogrades three to four times every year. This means that Mercury’s retrograde cycle is “business as usual” and isn’t something that should be feared but it is a change in the energy signature of one of our personal planets, so it’s worth paying attention and making adjustments where necessary.

Retrogrades don’t mean that the planet ACTUALLY is moving backward, of course. It is a perspective shift in our perception of the planetary movement through our skies. In this way, our perspectives and perceptions can get a bit twisted during these times and it is easy to miss key details or communicate ineffectively.

During Mercury’s retrograde, Mercury traces its path backward in our skies and it is considered better to go over your work rather than start something new. Mercury passes over these degrees in the sky thrice: the first time during its pre-retrograde shadow, the second time while it moves backward during its retrograde, and again a third time while it moves forward in its post-retrograde shadow. Because of this, we all get the cosmic opportunity to relearn and refocus on certain things that are going awry in our lives.

By looking at the degrees of Mercury’s retrograde and comparing it to your birth chart, you can understand how Mercury’s retrograde cycle might affect you. If you don’t want to do this yourself, you can always purchase a Mercury retrograde transit chart from me on Kofi.

Mercury retrogrades affect some people more than others. By order of significance, these people are most likely to be affected by a Mercury retrograde:

If you have Sun, Moon, Ascendant in Gemini and Virgo, or Mercury closely conjunct (within 2°) to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant

If your natal Mercury was in retrograde or out of bounds

If the current retrograde crosses over your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant (in conjunction) or makes a square or opposition

If the current retrograde crosses over your Mercury, Venus, or Mars or makes a square or opposition with them

If the current retrograde makes a trine with one of your personal planets or a sextile to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant

If you work in a job that involves technology, communication, or travel or are currently undergoing a task that involves one of these domains during this retrograde cycle

If you live with, are in a relationship with, or closely work with a person who meets the above criteria

One can assume that the more of these factors in play, the stronger you may experience the effects of a Mercury retrograde cycle. This isn’t to say that what you experience will be bad or wrong – some people experience a lot of freedom from Mercury’s journey. The more open you are willing to give up control and stay open to the ever-changing landscape of a Mercury cycle, the easier it will be.

The Nitty Gritty

Now that we’ve reviewed the basics let’s look at the specifics of THIS Mercury retrograde cycle. Mercury will retrograde backward from 22°-06° Sagittarius. Sagittarius is our mutable fire sign. Overall, it is concerned with higher education, big thinking, luck, and travel – all aspects that fall within the domain of Jupiter, its planetary ruler. Jupiter is currently in the sign of its exile, Gemini. Interestingly, Sagittarius is also the sign of Mercury’s exile. Gemini and Sagittarius are 7-7 Sun Sing opposites, which is a fancy way of saying that they sit in opposition with one another on the horoscope wheel. This interplay between Mercury and Jupiter – both in the other’s home signs – will play out strongly during this retrograde.

Jupiter is our cosmic cheerleader; it wants to go big and never go home. The problem with its placement in Gemini is that Gemini has endless rabbit holes and diversions for Jupiter to fall into; not only can Jupiter not go home (something that it strives towards), but it can also become hopelessly lost in the labyrinthian double-mind of the twins. This is further exasperated by Jupiter’s ongoing retrograde. We are already distracted by this before Mercury even begins their regularly scheduled shenanigans. Luck isn’t on our side right now because luck isn’t on anybody’s side.

Mercury and Gemini, the sign it naturally rules (along with Virgo), rely on luck an awful lot. They need luck to access what they know out of the scattered filing system so that they speak the right things and they need luck to be believed (or at least given the benefit of the doubt) when they are speaking nonsense that might prove to be true at a later date. I do not mean to belittle Gemini here; they are just mutable air – the essence of pure thought. Not every idea is a good idea, and Gemini doesn’t discriminate. That is one of their best and worst qualities.

And the only sign that relies on luck more than Gemini is Sagittarius. They are cosmic opposites, after all, which any good astrologer can tell you means that they are actually quite similar. Sagittarius is mutable fire – pure inspiration. Sagittarius often seems to have been born to leap before they look. And trust me, the universe (or whatever you want to call it) catches them many times more than seems reasonable.

These two signs are front and center to this retrograde, and both are at a disadvantage. (roll twice, take the worse result – IYKYK)

There are a couple of ways of looking at what is about to happen between Mercury and Jupiter over the next two months (58 days if we’re being exact):

Luck will be iffy, so I should shore up some for a rainy day. Luck is out for lunch, so I should eat elsewhere too. Luck has gone haywire; I can use this.

Neither is right or wrong; a lot depends on your comfort with luck streams and how much you rely on them. Whatever you choose, this will have a particular effect on our lives. When Mercury retrograde makes our vision blurry, and we’re out of luck, we should watch for opportunities that look too easy. Both Gemini and Sagittarius are known for taking the easy road to their detriment. All that glitters is definitely not gold during this time, and you should be wary of the golden-tongued swindler. Check the fine print before you agree to anything during this time.

The days in question where Mercury will oppose retrograde Jupiter in Gemini: 11/18 during Mercury’s pre-retrograde shadow, 12/04 during Mercury’s retrograde, and on 12/26 during Mercury’s post-retrograde shadow. Because Mercury and Jupiter are in each other’s native signs, this will be in effect through the next sixty days, but it will appear the strongest around these dates.

Mercury in Sagittarius will also square Saturn in Pisces three times, once when Saturn is retrograde and twice after it has stationed direct during our Taurus full moon on 11/15. Saturn can be seen as the opposite of Jupiter—where Jupiter is constantly expanding, Saturn contracts. Saturn holds fate, time, and consequence within its portfolio. I don’t mean the whimsical tit-for-tat fate of modern Western mysticism; I mean the type of fate that is unavoidable and determined by being alive in a particular place at a specific time. Saturn holds the fated consequences of aging and eventually dying – both in ourselves, our others, and in every living thing that we share breath with. This is why Saturn is often called the Greater Malefic because time is relentless and unending. On a long enough timeline, everything turns to dust. On a long enough timeline, beauty fades. On a long enough timeline, everything that ever was is undone.

In a way, we can view youth as Jupiter who says “Let’s do it all!” and Saturn as our late twenty-something who comes to the realization that choices must be made because there will never be enough time.

Its worth noting that Jupiter and Saturn will be moving ever closer to exact square with one another through this retrograde (exact on 12/24 in close t-square with retrograde Mercury). This is going to make the days on and around this event (including Christmas proper) tense and dramatic. Where Jupiter says push, Saturn grunts Pull, which will likely cause things to grind to a standstill. Don’t expect communication to be easy during this time, or to get much done with any efficiency. I would expect some major blowups between the big personalities in family systems with neither party being able to see or comprehend the other’s point of view. Since this will happen in the clean up phase (post-retrograde shadow) of Mercury’s cycle, it might be for the best if people can really get whatever is eaten them off of their chests. But tempers will have to calm down and regroup before any true reconciliation can happen.

Expect the days that Mercury squares off with Saturn (11/12, 12/06, and 12/27) to be thick and slow as molasses. Some people will undoubtedly have to face the consequences of their actions (or inactions) during this time – especially our words and the many other ways that we communicate. Travel around the holidays is going to be slow and filled with terrors (watch out for accidents and people being very reactive to delays).

Lastly, Mercury will trine Chiron in Aries three times. This is the light at the end of this tunnel, but more like the Hermit lantern than anything – perhaps the light that guides us through the tunnel is more accurate. Chiron is not a planet but rather an asteroid that astrologers have noted with extra interest. It is often called the Wounded Healer after its namesake, a centaur from Greek mythology. Like most true healers, Chiron doesn’t heal – not exactly. Rather, it shines a beacon on what is hurting so that you can face it head on and heal yourself.

Some people really enjoy this process. Others run screaming from it with every fiber of their being. You probably know where you fall on that spectrum, stay very aware of that as we move through our Mercury retrograde cycle. Although as an asteroid, Chiron doesn’t carry the heavy significant of Jupiter or Saturn, most people still feel its impacts, especially when Chiron directly aspects their natal birth chart by birth position or through a major transit like this.

The wisest advice I’ve ever seen about Chiron is that although it sometimes hurts, its wise to remember that Chiron is working for you, not against you. This is a light in our tunnel, and it can point your directly at what you need to change, evolve, reevaluate, work on, etc. in your own life. But you need to be looking and its on you to then do the work to fix what needs fixing.

Chiron has had a much bigger part in this year than most. Firstly, it has been involved in every single Mercury retrograde of the year, where its been helping us to self reflect and grow. Secondly, it played a major role in the stellium that involved our eclipsed new moon in Aries, Chiron, Mercury. and the North Node during April. If that lunation was difficult for you, the remnants of it may rise to the surface for further integration.

Chiron is a reminder that things hurt when we are hurt, or ill, or otherwise in need of healing. And that you might need to hurt more to get through the scar tissues, expel the disease, burn out the fever, or whatever healing analogy you want to get better. Chiron is also the Wounded Healer because it has a wound that can never be healed. Some things can’t be fixed, and that is a hard part of the Chironian lesson as well. Instead, we must learn and adapt to where we are; sometimes the answer is moving the marker rather than trying to walk all that way all by ourselves.

Mercury trines Chiron thrice: first on 11/19 in its pre-shadow, a second time on 12/02 in retrograde, and a third time on 12/31 in its post-retrograde shadow. The big flex is to remember these dates may be painful, but necessary.

The other component of this retrograde cycle is Mars sitting in Leo in its own pre-retrograde shadow. Mars retrogrades on 12/06 which means part of these two personal planets’ retrogrades overlap (from 12/06-12/15). Schedule less during this time. Since almost everyone will have a personal planet ruled by either Mercury OR Mars; people will just – in general – but awful to deal with during this time. Don’t sweat the small stuff and try not to take things personally because everyone is going to be in it.

Retrograde Mercury meets up in a fire trine with retrograde Mars around 12/13 which just screams “Red Flags”. Don’t let someone pull you into a fight if you don’t want to fight. Not my shit, not my monkeys (yeah, its bad enough that we are mixing our metaphors here) should be your mantra during this time. Mars in Leo is egotistic to begin with, and that is going to come to bite someone in the ass. Do the best to make sure its not you, and step out of the way of the falling rocks. Both planets are in retrograde so this is a disaster happening in slow motion – you have time to move if you keep your eyes open. Note that this trine never quite reaches exactitude, which is a deep metaphor for these two retrogrades happening simultaneously.

The full moon on 12/15 is at 23° Gemini (ruler of Mercury) and coincides with Mercury stationing direction. This is our ah-ha moment. What comes up on this day does so for a reason. See it, acknowledge it, use it to your advantage. It may be hard to take action on your insight (Mars Retrograde) so write it down so that you can at a later date when life feels a little bit easier.

Since Mercury’s post-retrograde shadow moves through the end of December and into the New Year (and Mar’s retrograde brings us into March), there isn’t an easy road in sight. Take the low road instead. Enjoy the scenic views and really dig in to what you learn along the way. This is a great time to rewrite, review, renew, revisit, and revise. It is ill advised to start a new job, a new relationship, or a new project during this time unless you are willing to follow it through deep into Wonderland and back out again. But follow the white rabbit, if you dare.

The Details

11/07 – Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow 06° Sagittarius 11/12 – Mercury in Sagittarius square retrograde Saturn in Pisces (1) 11/15 – Full moon 24° Taurus, Saturn stations direct 12° Pisces 11/18 – Mercury in Sagittarius opposed retrograde Jupiter in Gemini (1) 11/19 – Mercury in Sagittarius trine Chiron in Aries 11/21 – Sun enters Sagittarius 11/25 – Mercury retrogrades 22° Sagittarius 12/01 – New moon 09° Sagittarius 12/02 – Retrograde Mercury trine Chiron in Aries (2) 12/04 – Retrograde Mercury opposed retrograde Jupiter in Gemini (2) 12/05 – Sun conjunct retrograde Mercury 12/06 – Mars retrogrades 06° Leo, Retrograde Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn in Pisces 12/13 – Retrograde Mercury in Sagittarius sextile Venus in Aquarius, Retrograde Mercury in Sagittarius trine retrograde Mars in Leo (not exact) 12/15 – Full moon 23° Gemini, Mercury stations direct 06° Sagittarius 12/24 – Jupiter in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces 12/26 – Mercury in Sagittarius opposed retrograde Jupiter in Gemini (3) 12/27 – Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn in Pisces (3) Mutable T-square 12/31 – Mercury in Sagittarius trine Chiron in Aries 01/04/25 – Mercury exits its post-shadow retrograde 22° Sagittarius

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[calmwaterstarot]

What can we expect from 2024 dear!?? 😌

2024 has a lot going on; there are so many astrological transits happening that have a huge impact on all of us.

January 1, 2024: Mercury went direct after being in retrograde for several weeks. This means communication gets better, legal documents can be signed without issues, and anything related to speech is cleared up.

January 20 - September 1, 2024: Pluto enters Aquarius. This is going to be a wild ride. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was around the late 1700's, and during that time, the world underwent MASSIVE change. Both the American and French Revolutions occurred, coups happened with governments, royalty was dethroned, battles and wars were fought, the first wave of feminism began, etc. There's so much more than this. You should see the list. I'll include it here--start around 1777 and go through 1798. Pluto represents death, rebirth, and transformation, while Aquarius represents humanity and technology. When you pair these two, you're looking at major transformation socially, politically, economically, and technologically. There's a brief retrograde into Capricorn for one last time during our lifetime, and then Pluto will return to Aquarius for another 20 years. It's interesting to note that the rise and fall of empires throughout history is around 250 years. The cycle for Pluto is 245 years. Coincidence? I think not.

February 16, 2024: A stellium in Aquarius. A stellium occurs when three or more planets are in the same house/sign in an astrological chart. This Aquarius stellium will feature Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto. The last time this occurred was in February, 1962, and was commonly referred to as the "Age of Aquarius." This time period brought about major changes in the fields of technology, science, and aerospace. I'm afraid that during this time, though, there will be a strong focus on AI and its advancement. Pay attention to headlines regarding an upgrade in technology.

March 25, 2024: Lunar eclipse in Libra. Major historical events typically coincide with lunar eclipses, and since this one will be in Libra, I foresee society wishing for balance, harmony, peace, and justice. I believe this will be a time that humanity will call for us to take a deeper look at how we can end strife and get along with each other. Be ready for major calls for wars and upheaval to end (even though it's happening now, this will be on a much larger scale with this eclipse).

April 8, 2024: Solar eclipse in Aries. On the flip side of the lunar eclipse, we have the solar eclipse in Aries. This will be a time where we start anew and are ready to charge down a new path. Mars' energy represents war, destruction, violence, revenge, but also strength. This particular eclipse is warning us about war and destruction on a collective level because it'll be conjunct the North Node (the direction we're all going). I believe we're headed into a total collapse and rebirth when we add in the Pluto in Aquarius energy, but it's something that needs to happen for us to evolve as a civilization.

May 25, 2024: Jupiter in Gemini, which is actually in detriment. This means the energy is weaker in this sign for the planet. Expect changes in telecommunications (voice, data, and video) and social media, since Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication.

June 2, 2024: Neptune is anaretic. Anaretic means that a planet has entered the 29th degree, which holds a sense of finality because this planet has transited all 30 degrees (starting at 0). It's ready to move on and cut ties. What does this mean for Neptune? Well, the planet of illusions will lift its veil and a lot of what we've held onto in our beliefs will die out. Some people will still try to hold on (sunk-cost fallacy) because they're stubborn, but the majority of people will release, mourn, and deal with the fallout that's going to be super messy. Imagine the feeling of being betrayed by someone you love. That's what Neptune lifting it's veil is going to feel like for most. Again, collectively, we NEED this energy for healing and spiritual growth.

July 21, 2024: Full Moon in Capricorn. Most of the time, nothing major happens on full moons, but this one is interesting because it falls on an anaretic degree, just like Neptune. Capricorn represents structure, discipline, rigidity, and order (its ruler is Saturn), so we're going to see some upheaval in regards to these issues. The old way of doing things will no longer serve the same purpose. This is the equivalent of saying, "Out with the old, in with the new."

August 5, 2024 – August 28, 2024: Mercury Retrograde in Virgo and Leo. With Mercury rx in Virgo, this might be a time where you lose or misplace documents, feel irritated, have constant miscommunication, or face scrutiny from the general public. Remember to write down important deadlines and keep everything organized so you don't lose anything. With Mercury rx in Leo, I'm fully expecting some celebrity scandals during this time. Otherwise, it'll be a time of thinking about trying something new or wanting to get out and do something fun.

September 17, 2024: Lunar Eclipse in Pisces. This will happen in the 25th degree (an Aries degree), so anyone with heavy Pisces placements will have creative breakthroughs during this time. We'll see a rise in great music, art, poetry and literature, as well as film and visual arts. This time period might feel very dreamy and whimsical on the art scene.

October 2, 2024: Solar Eclipse in Libra. We had the lunar eclipse in Libra in March, so now, the solar eclipse will bring justice and balance. Anyone with Libra placements in early degrees will feel the need to purge what's not working. Even though most Librans are peaceful, this will be a time of upheaval. Expect people to help the oppressed even more (seeking justice) in a world that needs to be more fair and balanced (Libra energy).

November 19, 2024: Pluto goes direct in Aquarius for twenty years, until March 8, 2043. Buckle up! It's going to be a bumpy-but-necessary ride.

November 25, 2024 – December 15, 2024: Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius. We all know what happens during Mercury rx, but what happens when it's in Sagittarius? Sagittarius represents higher education and learning, all things foreign and travel-related, religion, and spirituality. Expect religious or spiritual leaders, as well as educational leaders at universities, to have private documents leaked, misinformation stemming from foreign countries and media, as well as travel issues (delays, being rerouted, lots of crowds, etc.). This will not be a good time to travel.

December 6, 2024 – February 24, 2025: Mars Retrograde in Cancer and Leo. This is going to be...interesting. Mars hates being in Cancer; it's in detriment. Why? Cancer represents empathy and compassion, while Mars represents a more masculine energy that strives towards war, violence, and destruction. Cancer wants to provide a resolution to all of the conflict occurring, while Mars isn't having it. Expect masculine energies, especially men, to be more irritated and aggressive during this time. This duo can bring about discussion regarding balancing masculine and feminine energy, which we all have. Because Cancer is represented by the Moon, or the "mother" in astrology, expect some discussions about fertility and reproduction, birth rates (especially the low birth rates of some countries), marriage (or lack thereof), and any social dynamics with males and females. These discussions will carry over into 2025.

2024 is going to be a year that'll go down in history, that's for sure. One silver lining in all of this is that Venus does NOT retrograde this year, so we might see or hear about fewer breakups, and we might see or hear about more people entering into relationships and staying together.

[apod]

2024 June 15

Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Steen Søndergaard

Explanation: This colorized and sharpened image of the Sun is composed of frames recording emission from hydrogen atoms in the solar chromosphere on May 15. Approaching the maximum of solar cycle 25, a multitude of active regions and twisting, snake-like solar filaments are seen to sprawl across the surface of the active Sun. Suspend in the active regions' strong magnetic fields, the filaments of plasma lofted above the Sun's edge appear as bright solar prominences. The large prominences seen near 4 o'clock, and just before 9 o'clock around the solar limb are post flare loops from two powerful X-class solar flares that both occurred on that day. In fact, the 4 o'clock prominence is associated with the monster active region AR 3664 just rotating off the Sun's edge.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240615.html

[cahootings]

Watched them lights with @poetling 🤩 solar cycle 25 just keeps GIVING

[vizthedatum]

Is there anyone else who feels the solar flares more viscerally than ever? I feel it in my body so much. (I am aware that there is limited scientific research to validate these effects on human physiology (I looked up some papers, but the evidence needs to be more generalizable). I admit that I do not honestly know, but I feel really, really off during big astronomical events like eclipses (not just the "major" ones, but all the other ones, too) and solar flares.)

[nico-esoterica]

Astro Notes on Current Events:

The Fall of Sean 'Diddy' Combs

From my professional perspective: / cw for mentions of abuse:

Diddy's incarceration and undoing coincides w/ Pluto regressing back into Capricorn and conjoining his Mars and many factors but I had my eye on that transit for months. There's no getting out of this one. Our current and incoming south nodes are conjoining planets in his chart which can be associated with domestic power abuse, control issues, and legal disputes being magnified. The SN is associated w/ the 'karma' you inherit or reap from the past.

On Sep 18th, the partial lunar eclipse in Pisces directly opposes his Pluto. Moon-Pluto oppositions can deal with feminine-coded abuse. It's emotional negligence, gaslighting, and a complete conquering of an emotional reality which starts with caregivers. From a legal and symbolic standpoint, this translates to me as the private subjugation of women. Abuse of wives, live-in partners, domestic servants, and child abuse and trafficking.

Saturn isn't aspecting this but its co-presence adds tension to the landscape. The collective needs justice. Being ruled by Jupiter in Gemini for the time being, this has to do with what was said and what can be factually proven. Witness and survivor accounts are going to play a major role here. Saturn is also conjoined with his natal NN which is in retrograde at the moment. In December it'll be direct. From a prosecution standpoint, this is saying they'll have everything they need to charge him by this date or something even more damning may come to light at that time. Dec 10th.

But it goes deeper than you'd think. Many psychics and astrologers have forecasted potential ties to more powerful players coming to light through this. My guess is that they're going to try to pin it all on him..but as quickly as possible. With Mars transiting through all of Cancer between now and November, this happening in the US's 8H and squaring Diddy's Venus planets may be about uncovering that the trafficking and other criminal activity doesn't only incriminate him but anyone w/ power attached to him. It was never just about Diddy. There's more people involved and they're all at risk. I'd argue that astrologically, his Mars's exaltation was protecting him, especially if he has a night chart. But Pluto bouncing from that Mars to continuing its applying square to his Retrograde Saturn in Taurus spells out that any shadiness he thought he could get away with would inevitably come to light..with an ass beating attached. Pluto's official long term ingress in Aquarius starts on Nov 19th.

On March 14th '25, there'll be a total lunar eclipse conjoining his Pluto. There's potentially going to be more charges made and files/documentation being brought in. But on Sep 21st '25, there's a very interesting partial solar eclipse occurring right on the late Kim Porter's 29-degree Virgo Pluto. I'm just going to call it, but if the rumors are true that he played a part in her death, we're going to definitely find out then. Keep your eyes on Sep 21, 2025.

If it doesn't happen then, it'll be a couple eclipses down the line because the next Cancer/Cap eclipse cycle occurs right where Kim Porter's Moon and Diddy's Lilith fall and it's going to reveal how abusive (and fatal) that Moon-Lilith connection was. That's mother-coded and child-coded too. So, anything involving children, pregnancy, etc, may come to light as well. That'll be happening in 2028. Tbh, I'm calling it because there'll also be a partial eclipse on his Juno that's going to be conjoined with her Mercury as well. Kim Porter's life and the darkness she was forced to keep secret is going to fully (and finally) be told very shortly. That man is about to be destroyed. Tbh, it's giving a memoir she may have wanted to have published.

Her scorned (but vindicated) Lilith has a full lunar eclipse occurring on March 3 '26. This is why I'm thinking that it's not just going to be a single decisive punch of getting her spiritual lick back with one eclipse cycle. Kim Porter was an actual inner-planet Scorpio stellium. It's going to be a rolling and incapacitating series of punches. Or of slow and painful dismemberment, quite honestly. Between now and 2028 and beyond, everyone is going to know just how abysmally awful this man is.

But he won't be alone. Oh, no. With Pluto in Aqua occurring right at the start of everything, it'll be the beginning of the end for the entertainment world in its current state.

[uncontrolledfission]

Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun, 2024-06-15

This colorized and sharpened image of the Sun is composed of frames recording emission from hydrogen atoms in the solar chromosphere on May 15. Approaching the maximum of solar cycle 25, a multitude of active regions and twisting, snake-like solar filaments are seen to sprawl across the surface of the active Sun. Suspend in the active regions' strong magnetic fields, the filaments of plasma lofted above the Sun's edge appear as bright solar prominences. The large prominences seen near 4 o'clock, and just before 9 o'clock around the solar limb are post flare loops from two powerful X-class solar flares that both occurred on that day. In fact, the 4 o'clock prominence is associated with the monster active region AR 3664 just rotating off the Sun's edge.

Credits: NASA's 'Astronomy Picture Of The Day.'

[malewife-overlord]

Six Cycles Later -- Part I

Hello and welcome to the start of Six Cycles Later! SCL is an OC fic based in a bit of a G1/IDW continuity soup. It will feature TF OCs, but there will be a few canon character mentions and appearances. Mostly, however, it will focus on original characters, so if that is not your thing, you probably shouldn't read this fic.

SCL takes place after the 1984 movie. Optimus and Megatron are dead, Unicron is vanquished, and Rodimus Prime has stepped up to lead the Autobots, while the remnants of the Decepticons hide on Chaar, awaiting the return of their leader. But what about the two Cons left behind on Earth?

This fic will follow those left behind, but not just on the Decepticon side. A lost ship has crashed onto Earth, and the single bot inside of it has been missing for the past four million years. Worse still, he wasn't alone when he disappeared...

This is the first chapter, and thus contains two perspectives: that of Invert, a Seeker eager to prove she's worth something to her cause, and Luster, a mysterious Autobot stuck in a world he doesn't belong in.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, feel free to read on! Trigger warnings will be placed at the beginning of every chapter if it contains any. Chapter below cut! If you want to read the whole hulking fic in it's original state, not fucked by Tumblr, you can find it here. If you're intrigued and liked this start, the next chapter can be found here.

If you like these characters, art was done for Luster and Uptick by the amazing @scarlettaagni! Now go follow her!

Word Count: 7494

Orbital cycle: 6.3. Approximately 182.5 solar cycles since initial launch for attack on Autobot City. Diagnostic report: no structural damage detected. Energon levels: 27%. Energon levels of 50% recommended for full functionality. Defense systems: offline. Offensive systems: offline. Cloaking systems: online. Communications: partially online. Power saving mode recommended at Energon levels of 25%. 

She records the report in her datapad down to the final recommendation, which really was not necessary, considering any proper engineer would have understood that by now, the ship should have entered power saving mode eons ago. If it had been placed in that mode when the other Decepticons had initially left, the current Energon levels would sit comfortably at the recommended 50%, and she would still have the long distance communications beacon up. But that was in the past, where they were supposed to have returned after a few solar cycles. 

It had been dozens now, and Invert was starting to wonder if her brethren were going to return. A far more patient bot like Shockwave would not have felt any doubt up to the first double digit million years–how else had he held down Cybertron for so long? By comparison she was young, having barely lived for over a million. The hundreds of solar cycles that had passed as she was left alone on the Victory were now starting to seep into her processor, bringing with them questions of uncertainty.

The raid was supposed to last barely a few days. They’d brought everyone in the local system with them. The greatest warriors the Decepticon cause had were deployed. With all of them attacking at once, even the heavily fortified Autobot City should have been leveled in under a deca-cycle. 

And yet there was silence. No cries of victory. No chaotic messages on the airways calling for aid. No declaration of retreat. Just silence. 

They couldn’t be defeated. If they’d been defeated they would have retreated back to Victory. If they’d gone back to Cybertron on Astrotrain, then surely Shockwave would have contacted her on earth. He knew her name. He knew he’d sent her there orbital cycles ago. He’d know they’d left her behind to hold down the fort. 

There was, of course, one other option. Silence was begetting of only a few characteristics when it came to the living. The Autobots, surely, wouldn’t. They were too soft-hearted. But if the attack had truly gone so badly, and they’d deigned it necessary–

Total obliteration. Total razing. Total loss. 

She pushed the thoughts swirling in her processor aside and focused back on Victory’s main computer, typing in a few commands. 

“Victory, run an internal scan. How are your habsuits looking?”

A map of Victory’s internal structure appeared on the screen before her. Dozens of rooms were selected and zoomed in on, each of which specifically served as living space. One by one they started as black, then turned white as they were provided the all clear. 

Structure: stable. Living conditions: adjusted. Doors: unlocked. 

“Alright, that’s good…” she muttered to herself, swapping to the cameras on the outside of the ship. They revealed an empty sea around her, dark and creeping with small organics. Their crude forms made her cringe, even in the restricted view she had of them. “Gross…Victory, illuminate your external hull.” 

Victory obeyed, revealing a vast expanse of metal currently covered in the earth version of space barnacles. The white-shelled creatures had opened their filthy maws, extending forth feelers characteristic of some kind of horror show. Invert grimaced and swapped the camera views, checking instead on the door to the airlock. It was immaculately clean unlike the hull, though a few many legged organics crawled across it. 

She checked the back of the ship, its thrusters, its scope, and finally its body. Making a note of each location that needed proper cleaning, Invert tapped the information into her datapad and closed the camera system before issuing another command. “Victory, check the wavelengths for any signs of communication.” 

The screen before her went black, turning to a single unmoving flat line. She stared at it in silence, waiting for a peak, a leap, a blur, a single beat to indicate that anyone was out there. 

Nothing happened. 

Frowning to herself, she tapped a button on the keyboard before her–the one for “broadcast”. 

“Fellow Decepticons,” she said, “if any of you are out there, I am Invert of Cybertron, broadcasting from the Earth base Victory. I am alone here and have been so since the attack on Autobot City. If you are hearing this message, please respond.” 

Her servo left the button and she waited. And waited. And waited. 

And waited. 

And waited. 

And nothing came, as it never did. 

She vented and focused back on her datapad, the frown perched upon her face seemingly eager to make it a permanent home. There was her chore list, plain and simple. It would take her several megacycles to complete: clean the habsuits, clean the storage vault, clean the weapons vault, clean the hallways, feed Victory, scrape away the organics on Victory’s hull, manage the outside of Victory, air another message after seven megacycles, spy on the Autobots if possible.

If possible. The last one was becoming an increasingly harder task to pull off. She was no Soundwave, and Victory’s listening equipment had been down for a while now to preserve power. Furthermore the equipment in Soundwave’s habsuit was either completely foreign or off-limits to her. He may not be here now, but he would return, like the others would, and if he found out she’d been messing with his items, well. She was only a lowly foot soldier, and he was the head of communications of the Decepticon cause. 

She’d be lucky if only her wings were broken off and used to decorate his sparsely covered habsuit. 

Speaking of her wings…she cast a glance down at the inverted things, which pointed towards the ground as opposed to the air. They would do her no favors in navigating the outside of the ship and certainly no aid in reaching the higher spots in the larger habsuits. Her boosters were functional, but the Energon they’d consume to keep her airborne would drain her at twice the levels of a normal Seeker. 

She’d have to use them sparingly if she wanted to continue her present consumption rate of only one Energon cube a day. If she offlined from low power, that was fine; eventually her brethren would return, find her, and bring her back. But without her, no one would feed Victory, who would eventually offline from low power. Victory had to stay online, no matter what. 

Where else would the Decepticons go when they came back, if they didn’t have Victory? 

“I’ll keep you going, girl…” she whispered as she left the control room, reaching a hand out to run along the walls of the ship. Victory, as usual, was silent. It always was. 

Perhaps none of the other Decepticons had shared her sentiment, but Invert had always thought of The Victory (Victory for short) as a fellow ‘con. It was a crashed ship, yes, but it was alive and functional, and it provided them a home within its body. Victory could respond to commands and hold conversations if it so wished; just the majority of the time, it preferred not to. For all she knew Victory was just trapped in permanent stasis lock, and would perhaps free itself one day. 

As such, it was important to take care of Victory, for more purposes than just maintaining a Decepticon earth base. Victory was an ally with much greater might than her. If it fell, everything was lost. 

That was why they’d left her behind when the entire cause had prepared for the assault on Autobot City–it had to be. Someone had to take care of Victory and it was for the better that that someone was her. Perhaps it had been said to her in a less kind way, but the others had had a point when they said that someone who couldn’t contribute properly to a fight would be better off staying behind. 

Okay, they’d said it a lot less kindly. More so, they’d chided her that a flightless Seeker was utterly useless on the field despite whatever “special talent” Shockwave had promised she possessed. And for the battle of Autobot City, they needed soldiers who were functional, powerful, and wouldn’t prove dangerous to their allies as well as their foes. Besides, for swelling their numbers, they had the Insecticon clones. So someone like her, broken, glitched, and more of a liability than anything else, would only be good for ensuring that Victory didn’t somehow miraculously break while they were gone. 

Because really, if Victory was invaded, it wasn’t that big of a deal. The ship was equipped to deal with invasions. Its defensive systems were more than adequate for dispatching invaders both inside and out. Invert was only present within it to mop up the Energon remains of whoever was fool enough to try. 

No one had been–but that could also be attributed to the fact that the Autobots didn’t seem to know where the Decepticon base was. That, or they just didn’t care. Invert preferred the former. Why would it be inconsequential to know where the enemy’s base was, where they were likely to crawl back to and lick their wounds? And surely they were licking their wounds somewhere out there, weren’t they?

So why hadn’t they come back?

She pushed the thought away again and threw open one of the few cleaning closets the ship possessed, grabbing all the equipment she’d need to properly clear out all the habsuits. Nowadays it was more dusting than anything else, but she still brought along a mop and bucket, just in case. 

The habsuits would start with Starscream’s, of course, because if she cleaned anyone else’s first and he found out, he’d throw a fit. And a fit from her commander was not something Invert wanted to sit through. He always treated her with more vitriol than any of the other Seekers, no matter how inconsequential her mistakes might be compared to theirs. She had an ounce of resentment towards him for it, countered only by the fact that, no matter how awful Starscream could be, he was deserving of respect for his flight abilities. 

But that was a low bar. Any winged Decepticon could fly circles around her while all she could do was watch and seethe. 

She vented and tapped the passcode to his habsuit’s door into its keypad, the double doors opening to reveal a pristine and lavishly decorated room. Starscream was nothing if not dramatic and narcissistic. All the valuables and self-care items stored in his habsuit spoke lengths to just what he’d do for a decent polish. Cleaning it was always a nightmare, even after all the times she’d done it before. If even one item was an inch out of place, she’d hear about it later. 

A tiny chuckle escaped her at the thought–when was the last time she’d heard Starscream’s voice for any purpose? Be it admonishing her for attempting even once to be a proper Seeker, bossing her around, treating her as his personal slave, or verbally abusing her to let his Megatron-induced anger out, it had been so long she almost found herself forgetting how cruel the insults had been. 

Almost. She entered his habsuit with her cleaning gear and checked everything over–berth, vanity, table, overly expensive one of a kind statue in his image, all the data-pads he pretended didn’t contain failed plans to assassinate their great leader, full length mirror that somehow hadn’t been broken, each and every one of his polishes and maintenance equipment, and of course, the additional weapons he kept on the wall. 

There wasn’t a speck of dust on anything nor any indication of water damage. The berth was made perfectly.. The floor was clean save for her own pedeprints. And the metal of the walls gleamed like it’d been treated with the same care as Starscream himself. 

There was nothing to clean, but she still gave everything a dust off, just to be safe. Giving everything one final look over for rust, Invert confirmed there to be no contamination on any of Starscream’s immensely precious belongings and left his habsuit, locking it behind her.

One down. At least fifty more to go. She vented again and moved to the next.

—-----

Maintenance was finished by the time the Earth’s sun moved high into the sky. Her internal clock read 16:23, a new method of telling time that had been adjusted for her when she’d arrived on Earth. The planet operated on a twenty-four megacycle basis, working around when the sun would orbit to the other side of the planet. The absence of the sun was named “night”, and could occur anywhere from 17:00-21:00, sometimes later. Having spent much of her time on Cybertron, she had been unaccustomed to Earth’s time, and figured it to be useless for the majority of her stay on the planet. 

“Night” had its benefits, though. Its darkness concealed well, and most organics chose to enter recharge when it came on. It was the perfect time to enact plots, schemes, and occasional terrorist attacks on Autobot City. 

The season Earth was presently in was dubbed “summer”. That meant night would not come until 21:00. She had time. After finishing with the habsuits, Invert focused on maintaining Victory. 

At 16:28 she scraped away the organics on the outside of the hull, using her thrusters to properly climb up onto it. Finishing the front at 17:34, she headed to the side, then the back, ending at 18:20. Once back inside, she accessed the Energon vault and took stock before feeding Victory. 

92 cubes left. Victory sufficed on ten per day. Power saving mode was beginning to look tempting now, if not for the risk that it would cease cloaking. And considering how often she had to transmit, the loss would be nothing short of catastrophic. 

More Energon was needed, then. She’d have to ration herself more. She fit eleven cubes in her arms and brought them to Victory’s engine. As they were tossed in she held the one extra up. 

“To another cycle, Victory.” It was brought to her dermas and promptly consumed. 

Victory gave no response, as always. Invert stared at the empty cube in her servos for only a second before turning to take it back to storage. 

At which point Victory’s system suddenly lit up. The screen turned on behind her, displaying a map of the planet and pinging a specific point somewhere in Asia. Invert looked back and raised her brows. 

“SOS signal of Decepticon origin detected,” Victory stated in its monotone voice. “Displaying coordinates on screen. Incoming message. Playing now.”

Before Invert could even brace herself, an unholy buzzing suddenly sounded through the speakers, so shrill and constant that she collapsed to one knee, instinctively slamming her servos over her audials. Gritting her dentas she opened her hub and turned her audials all the way down, which made the buzzing just tolerable enough for her to reach Victory’s main computer and slam her fist on the OFF button. 

The sound stopped so suddenly it left her processor ringing. She blinked several times, then knocked a fist against the side of her helm, shaking it a few times to properly orient herself. 

Victory had gone silent again, but continued to display the ping and its coordinates. Invert looked up at them, transcribing them in her memory. What kind of distress signal had that been? Victory’s audio systems must be going, perhaps from too much time spent under the Earth’s water. An SOS signal usually captured the sound of blaster fire, of desperate voices crying for help, of bitter regret as whatever ‘con was on the other end laid aside his pride to admit he needed back-up. 

That thought made her uneasy. Buzzing. Why have an SOS signal that was nothing but buzzing? 

“Victory…” she paused, winced, and told herself that it wasn’t going to hurt as badly the second time. “Play the SOS signal again. At a decreased volume!” 

It complied, the loud, painful buzzing sounding over the speakers once more. Invert increased her audials this time, even though the sound made her want to rip them out of her helm. Listening closely, she focused on differentiating corrupted audio from what might be beneath, be it voices, blaster fire, or the sound of fleeing pedesteps. 

But the clip ended without any differentiating sounds. She found that odd, and replayed it in her processor again and again, trying to filter through it. Nothing. Just buzzing.

“Victory, run a diagnostic on your audio systems,” she ordered. The screen changed as Victory did just that, then returned several cycles later with a clear report: nothing was wrong. 

The Energon she’d consumed sat uneasily in her tank. Invert grimaced. “Display the coordinates again,” she commanded, though they were already saved to her memory. Seeing them on the screen solidified her doubts. 

Bali. There was a ship in Bali that she knew about, one that had harbored several unsavory occupants of the Decepticon cause. They, too, had disappeared after the attack on Autobot City. 

Insecticons. Members of the cause notorious for how untrustworthy they were. She hadn’t been around for all the cases where they’d proven themselves to be nothing but hassles who only cared for endless consumption, but she’d read reports of actions and abilities. They were a self-contained group and stuck to their own–why would they call for help now, several orbital cycles after their last appearance in Autobot City?

Buzzing. Their entire signal had just been buzzing. She frowned, thinking it over. Their alt modes were based off of filthy organics, and as such, carried some characteristics of the ugly things. Was the buzzing a possible side effect of that? But they could speak, so why wouldn’t they?

Unless they weren’t able to, for some reason? During an SOS signal? 

An SOS signal from a self-contained, proud group, perfectly capable of surviving on their own, that contained an off-putting buzz likely made to avoid speaking.

Just what were they facing out there that would cause such behavior?

“Victory, open a comm to the Insecticon ship,” she said, leaning over the control panel. “Insecticons, this is Invert, speaking to you from the Decepticon base The Victory. Come in Insecticons.”

Silence. 

“Come in Insecticons.”

The ping repeated itself again and again. SOS. SOS. SOS. 

No one was going to answer. Her frown deepened and she stepped away from the control panel. The only Decepticon here was her, the last on Earth, for all she knew. If they weren’t answering, they could be offline for all she knew. Or worse, it could be an Autobot trap, and she’d be playing right into their hands. 

But if it wasn’t, and someone was there on the other side, waiting for help, desperately trying to reach any other Decepticon on this planet…

Even if they were gross Insecticons…

Rescue would fall to her. And though she would be taking a huge risk, with no guarantee for results, with the possibility of capture or permanent offlining…

It was, finally, something to do. Something beyond just maintaining Victory. Something that was a real mission. Something that could get her honor, respect, and maybe even a friend!

Her frown gradually gave way to a grin. Her first real mission. Her first real rescue. Her first chance to make a decision on her own, with no one ordering her what side to choose. 

Oh, she was excited. It didn’t matter that her jet mode struggled to fly and that she’d need to pack away six cubes of additional Energon for the journey and her weapon–she was getting out, and she was going to rescue those Insecticons. 

“Victory, open the weapon’s vault,” she eagerly commanded, taking off down the hall. “And prepare the hangar for take-off.”

—------------------

“I think you’ve had enough, bud.”

He raised tired optics from the glass currently gripped like a lifeline in his servos, the pink Energon within rippling from how his arm shook. Upon the bartender, a shorter mech with a white and yellow paint job, did his gaze land. Whatever was in it seemed enough to cause them to flinch, but they held their ground, clearly experienced in dealing with the far more unruly. 

“Seriously. You’ve had five of those in the past Earth hour. How you’re not horrendously overfueled by now, I dunno, but you’re on your way to an early grave if you keep that up.” They gave him a hard frown, narrowing their optics behind their visor. “I’m not havin’ it on record that someone died at my bar because of my negligence.”

Luster didn’t answer them at first, letting his gaze drift back down to the Energon swirling in the glass he held. How it hadn’t cracked yet spoke to its quality, or perhaps how weak he’d become. Either worked. 

The glass was half-drained. It hadn’t tasted like anything in particular. He never ordered for the flavor, since anything they could provide him would be irrelevant. His glossa didn’t taste like it once must have, even if the memories of what had been felt like they existed just beyond a fog barrier. And besides, no matter how much he drank, his tank never felt full. 

Not anymore. 

He pulled up a report on his tank capacity in his hub–93% capacity. Ignoring the bartender, he brought the glass to his derma and promptly chugged, feeling his frame protest against more. Another tank report came in–100%. If he consumed anymore, he’d have to purge. 

There was still a drop at the bottom. He forced it down despite the warnings and slid the glass forward, looking just past the bartender, never at them. 

“One for the road,” he rasped, venting harshly. “Please.”

“Absolutely not. If you’re not at capacity by this point your sensor’s faulty.” They took the glass with what almost seemed like disgust. “Aren’t you supposed to be here with your guardian, anyways? Where is he?”

Guardian. He coughed at the word, not because he wanted to, but because it reminded him of what his life had become. The motion jarred the Energon inside of him and he felt sick. Swallowing down the urge to purge, Luster moved to shaky pedes, gripping the bar for support. 

“I don’t need him,” he grumbled. “I’m not a Sparkling. I’m not a protoform. I’m…I was someone, before, I don’t need a guardian.” 

The bartender grimaced. “Luster…look, buddy. I didn’t know you before the war. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of your work. I know Magnus says you did somethin’ important before the retreat from Cybertron. But all that’s in the past now, aight? This is Earth, not Cybertron, and we all know whatever it is you were lookin’ for, you…”

They paused as his cold optics finally focused on them, reconsidering their words. 

“...We all know you had some tragedy while you were out there. Real sad. No one here wouldn’t feel bad for you. But you can’t keep drinkin’ yourself to death over it. And I know you’re a grown ‘bot, but considerin’ the memory problems and all…well…course we all think you could use a guardian.”

A low rumble escaped from somewhere deep within him. Tank capacity at 99%. He needed more Energon. 

“One more for the road,” he asked again. “Please. I’ll pay you double for it.” 

Their frown tightened. “I’m calling Uptick.”

“No.” It came out harsher and faster than he intended, sounding like the warning growl of a tiger. His optics widened and he closed them, the gentle lighting of the bar suddenly too much. “Please. No. Don’t call him.”

They had their hand to their helm as they grimaced at him. Luster growled and turned away, almost falling over as he did. His balance equilibrator was off courtesy of overfueling, and focusing on what was normally a clear beeline for the door was difficult. One pede in front of the other. One pede in front of the other. 

“Luster! You’re not goin’ out alone?” The bartender called after him. He ignored them, turning down his audials to focus on walking. 

Spilling out of the bar, he stumbled for the nearest wall and rested a hand against it, leaning on it for dear life. His head was spinning. Standing was becoming increasingly difficult. 

Tank capacity at 98%. 

It wouldn’t stay there long. He needed to be back in his habsuit before that happened. Which way to his habsuit? He focused on his internal map, pulling it up in his hub and searching the coordinates. A small box lit up on Metroplex’s form, his tracking systems illustrating a path for him to take milliseconds later. 

It was late. Autobots didn’t sleep, not really, but it was likely that, due to the time of the planet, he wouldn’t run into anyone. Luster vented again, feeling warm Energon slip out from between his lips as he did so, and began the journey back to the place he was temporarily calling ‘home’. 

The path his systems had picked took him through some of Metroplex’s tighter corridors. On Cybertron, back before he had launched on the fateful mission that took his memory from him, he would have once felt nervous. Now he felt nothing, nothing besides urgency, urgency that did not originate from fear of being attacked or robbed. 

No, it was urgency that sprouted from the deepest recesses of himself, telling him to hide for his self-preservation, for if he did not, the symptoms would soon manifest, and in his present state, he didn’t know if he could take them. 

He made it about halfway before his proximity sensor went off. With his audials turned so low, he realized he hadn’t picked up the voice of whoever was calling to him, and they’d approached, their presence now close enough to seemingly reach out and touch him. 

He turned his helm, uncaring, for whoever it was could not be worse than–

Him. 

Uptick was following within grabbing distance of him, his dermas moving as he ranted on about something Luster was glad he couldn’t hear. He paused in his movement and Uptick did the same, though he didn’t once stop talking. Of course he didn’t.

Slowly, Luster turned his audials back on, just enough to make out the slew of Uptick’s commentary like the gentle, cooing sound of a cyber pigeon. 

“--and furthermore you are in direct violation of your curfew, which states you aren’t to be out beyond the Earth hour of 21:00; it is presently 01:20 and here you are wandering the passages of Metroplex like a lost turbofox!” He put both hands on his hips, glaring Luster down. “This is your second warning. You know what happens if I have to issue a third.”

He shuttered his optics and stared blankly just beyond Uptick. “You lock me up in the clinic until I’m completely fixed or I don’t function anymore?” 

“What?” He sounded incredulous. “No! I’m not here to–do you consider this some kind of torture? Luster, I’m trying to help you!” 

“Then can you leave me alone?” He grumbled, turning away and continuing on his predetermined path. “I’ll be fine…I just need to go back…”

Back to where? The habsuit? The ship? The planet of fog in his memories? Back, back. Always back. 

“You need to stop drinking,” Uptick scolded, grabbing his shoulder and bringing him to a halt. “And stop these late night wanderings. Everyone’s concerned for you because of them.”

He let his shoulders slump. 

“That’s a lie and you know it. The only ones who still care about me are the medics who want to poke my processor. Now can I please go back home?”

The buzz was starting to fade. He didn’t get that nice warmth from Energon overfueling for long anymore. Balance was restoring. And worst of all, the reports were coming in. 

Tank capacity at 95%. Fuel proficiency at 20%. Uptake at %$^&&*^# levels. Seek alternate methods of refueling. 

Uptick let out a long sigh. “Let me walk you back. There’s no point in you getting lost and scaring others again.”

He didn’t fight the offer. There was no point in it. Once Uptick was convinced of doing something, he wouldn’t stop until it was done–especially if that task regarded protecting someone else. 

So he trudged along, the ‘bot slated as his “guardian” trailing just behind him. “Guardian”. “Caretaker” was more like it. Uptick followed him everywhere, kept an eye on how much Energon he was consuming, tracked his recharge cycles, kept a close eye on just what activities he engaged with on a daily basis, and probably had a tracker installed beneath his aft to keep him from ever having an ounce of privacy. 

Of course he did, though, after that night with the other ‘bots. He knew what he had been doing and why he had been doing it. He just didn’t know why he’d stopped.

The Autobots he’d frightened were significantly less green than he was. That wouldn’t keep them safe. They’d returned to their habsuit to begin a cycle of “enjoying one another’s company”. That was why he’d picked them. Two for one. It would have made the whole situation easier on them all.

Except it hadn’t been easier on anyone, especially him. They’d both become creeped out when, upon discovering him in their personal quarters, staring at their recharge slabs with optics more devoid than a moon, he’d purged his dinner and collapsed, whining like a sick turbofox. 

That was when Uptick had been assigned as his caretaker. There wasn’t anything wrong with Uptick, by any means, and he didn’t hate him. He was, like all Enforcers, large and imposing, and tended to play by the rules too much. His paint was cheerful colors of blue, green, and white, meant to match with the new planet he was eager to call home. And his personality was surprisingly forgiving–for being the sucker stuck with the mental patient, he had quite a tolerance for nonsense.

No, Luster despised Uptick’s company for an entire other reason. One that didn’t have to do with how closely he watched him, how constantly he reminded him to attend his appointments, or how constantly he changed his curfews and rules.

It had to do with his sparkbeat. With how close he insisted on staying, Luster could hear the damnable thing’s constant pulsing despite the layers of glass and metal and wires separating them. It was loud and full of vibrant life. 

He could feel the solvent building in his mouth. 

Tank capacity at 93%. 

—-------------------------------

The habsuit allotted to him was at the very end of Metroplex’s furthest row. It was close to the wall, away from any streets or alleys. The original request put in regarding a space for him had placed him near the clinic, where other Cybertronians would be passing by. His vehement rejection of the idea had only been approved after the arguing had made him purge. 

Uptick brought him right to the sliding door, inputting the code to open it on its keypad. The metal let out a quiet shff as it slid open, revealing the small space within. He turned, giving Luster a look. 

“Your visit tomorrow is at 09:20, Earth hours. I’ve already sent you the data package. You seem to have ignored the first four.” There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as he raised a servo to his helm. “I’ll send you another. Be there on time, please, so I don’t have to come here and convince you, alright?”

“Convince”. Luster almost scoffed at the word. The heaviness that came with overfueling had left him by now. With its cloud gone, he found himself choking on bitterness again. 

Instead, he vented, giving a tiny nod. 

“Alright.” Stepping past Uptick, he paused in the threshold of his habsuit when a hand suddenly landed back on his shoulder. 

“Luster. You know these visits are for your health, right? No one here wants to hurt you. We don’t see you as a processor to be poked.” 

“I know.” He didn’t turn around. The lights in his habsuit, motion activated, had turned on, illuminating the sparse few belongings within it. 

“I mean it.” His grip tightened ever so slightly, then released. “We want to help you. All of us.” 

“I know,” he repeated. “Now please leave me alone.” 

Uptick said nothing as the door slid closed, sealing him, and the outside world, away. Luster stepped fully into his habsuit and paused, gaze fixed on the berth. 

It was a recharge slab, standard issue. They’d tried to pull a better one for him due to his circumstances–the medic’s had posited that he may have recharging terrors. They’d been right, of course, but he knew it wasn’t the fault of the slab, so he’d let it lie. They didn’t need to know about the terrors that plagued him, for they were meaningless, and besides, if they knew, they’d want to keep a closer eye on him. 

Who cared about terrors that only consisted of strange humming noises, anyways?

Besides, a closer eye was the exact opposite of what he needed on him. If they watched him more closely, they’d take him away from the bar. They’d take him away from his quiet habsuit. They’d take him away from his place at the edge of their world and draw him right into the middle. 

And if they did that, he had no idea how long he could ensure their safety. 

He stepped over to the slab, observing his reflection in it. They’d taken away the mirror after he’d shown distress staring into it. Something about his frame just didn’t feel right, and the more he looked at it, the more out of place he felt. 

His paint was blue, a gaudy blue, one with a sheen to it that made him literally shine. One of the medics had stated his color was particularly reminiscent of a bird known as the “peacock” on earth. He’d never met the thing, but from the way they’d snickered, he assumed it was excessive. 

On his chassis were diamonds, which, according to the doctors, had been placed there, willingly, by him. He couldn’t imagine why he would have ever reasoned to do such a thing. The stones weakened the integrity of his armor, and furthermore, they drew attention. Cut into varying shapes, they were arranged into delicate patterns that continued on his faceplate, where several more had been embedded just below his optics. Had been. When they found him, all that were left were the indentations of what had been. They now felt like ugly scars. 

The gemstones were gaudy enough, but worse, in his opinion, were his drills. Their blades rested comfortably on his arms, with the largest sitting on his back as a heavy extension. His treads were on his legs, which, combined with the weight of the drill, made even lifting the damnable things a chore. According to the medics he hadn’t even been a miner back in the day, but a scientist of sorts, so why he was so equipped for drilling, he couldn’t even say. 

All of this shaped up to make his frame bulky and uncomfortable. His steps were heavy. His pieces tended to bump into things. And his excessive decorations drew gazes and snickers alike from other mechs. 

He hated the face that looked back at him. The optics were green, a gaudy green, because apparently, he’d once been obsessed with fashion, and made himself a different pair of colored optics for every day of the week. The others were lost, but the green he’d been wearing when he disappeared weren’t. 

His faceplate was a pale gray, like most mechs tended to be. Pale, with those intricate, delicate etchings, designed to make him look ‘beautiful’. His helm had a sharp point in the middle, reaching about halfway down, and of course, in the middle of it was another gemstone. This one, however, was cracked. 

A cracked gemstone accompanied by diamond shaped holes that had once held something supposedly precious. That was all he saw when he looked at himself. 

He tore his optics away from the visage and sat on the berth, keeping his pedes on the floor as he turned to look around his habsuit. It had a desk, a window, a few datapads, and a small storage shelf. That was all. 

They’d offered to bring him some of his surviving “collection”, whatever that meant. He’d declined.

The ceiling lights dimmed as he tried to lay down on his back, found it impossible, and instead did so on his side. He’d never get used to the damnable drill on his back, he just knew it. It wasn’t supposed to be there. It hadn’t been there before. Why did he have a drill on his back? He couldn’t ever remember a time where he did. 

But that was the problem with remembering. He couldn’t remember much of anything. 

It had been only three Earth “months” (solar cycles?) ago that he had landed on the planet, in an unmarked spaceship that had been dated back to the middle of the war. The bots who had discovered him found his frame locked in a stasis pod, almost offline from how little power he’d had left. Taking him back to Autobot City, an emergency transfer of Energon and a strong shock to his processor had brought him back online. 

And that was when the trouble had begun. He’d awoken in a room he didn’t recognize, in a time he didn’t know, in a place he’d never been before. He still remembered coming online. For so long it had been just darkness, darkness and the very hum of the universe, the electrical pulses that dictated the existence of life, making up the entirety of his world. When he’d come online, that hum had ebbed, becoming less than background noise. 

It had felt like being cut off from a lifeline. His optics had onlined, and he had been greeted with the sight of one of the Autobot medics, First Aid. There was celebration to be had as he had groaned and tried to sit up, confused, delirious, and wondering just how he’d gotten to this strange place. They’d insisted he stay down until his energon reserves were replenished. 

But even when his tank hit its safe capacity, a feeling that should have left him satiated and energized, he hadn’t had the strength to properly move. He’d known in that very instant, as the question arose as to why, that something was wrong with him. 

Another electrical shock had returned the ability to properly move to him. They’d released him from the medical bay after he’d demonstrated he could walk–right into the hands of their Enforcers. For according to their records, he was not to be alone, and the question of just what had happened on his mission was hanging heavier than a spaceship in orbit. 

The issue of his memory had arisen almost immediately. They’d asked him his name. They’d asked him why he had been alone. They’d asked him what had happened. 

He couldn’t remember any of it. 

“His processor seems to have been damaged, sir.” He remembered one of them saying, looking over the scan that had been provided from the medical bay. “They’ve found evidence that a code was written to delete some memories, but even more than that…” The datapad had been handed over, and the interrogator sucked in air through his denta. “How is he even still functional, with scrambling that bad?”

It looked like his processor had been ripped out, smashed, and placed back into his helm. He had no recollection of any of it. 

“Do you remember why you left?”

“Do you remember the name of your ship?”

“Do you remember the research you’d been engaging with when you’d decided to leave?”

“Do you remember what you found?”

“Do you remember Solace?”

“Do you remember what happened to him?”

“What happened to Solace?”

Who’s Solace?

The interview had ended shortly after. 

He vented, watching the lights in the ceiling turn down. Uptick’s data package pushed at the edge of his internal hub. He accepted it because he had no other choice. 

Solace. The name haunted him like a specter. Solace. Who was Solace? Solace had been someone he’d been very close with, apparently. Solace had been someone so important to him that he’d left Cybertron with him, in search of something mysterious to help the Autobot war effort. They’d been joined at the hip all their lives, apparently, 

And he couldn’t remember a single thing about the mech. But why?

He shuttered his optics and tried to think back to the day he’d left Cybertron. It had been sometime in the middle of the war, apparently. He’d made some big decision and gotten a ship somehow. He was going to prove something, or save them all, or change the tide of the war. Something heroic, or whatever. They’d said he had once been outgoing. 

He tried to picture himself standing on Cybertron (did he even remember Cybertron?), chassis puffed out, engine revving, the diamonds on his faceplate and chest glittering. A huge smile was on his face. He stood before the ship he’d arrived on, except instead of its decrepit state, it was a fully functioning spaceship, fresh off the factory line, without a single chip on the paint. 

Before him was a crowd of Autobots. They were cheering his name. Optimus Prime himself was there to see him off. 

He looks them over and grins widely, holding his arms out. Yes, he was going to save them all. He was going to travel far away, find something, and help end the war. He would be so full of hope, nothing could dampen his spirits. 

And there, beside him, would be Solace. Solace, his best friend, his one in a billion, his greatest ally. 

But when he looks beside him, there is no Solace. 

There was only fog, and blank space, and when he looked back, the planet of Cybertron was empty, a barren wasteland of gray. The sky was dark velvet blue. Stars glittered like diamonds overhead. 

There were stars in his chassis. He blinked once, twice. The planet was empty, and he was full of stars, and he was alone. 

And here, alone, in the emptiness of space, he floated, watching all of existence fall away and turn into the hum of electromagnetic pulses indicating life. Life that he could not see or touch. Life he could only listen to as he lay dreaming, drifting through the universe alone. 

In his cradle of stars, dead $^%#%&* waits dreaming. 

Not alone, really. He had not been alone while he was dreaming. He had heard something else in the hum.

He replayed the sound again, the hum he was so familiar with. It was millions of years worth of noise, stored within his processor because he had nothing else to comprehend for all of it. 217 gigabytes of nothing but humming. His processor ran through all of it in mere minutes, then ran through it again. 

There was something beneath all of the noise, something explicitly subtle. He opened his internal hub and pulled up a spectrograph. The noise was replayed again. 

The waves showed up as nothing in particular for a long time. Then, slowly, they began to form a curve. One by one, each contributed a single line, through millions of years, until finally, he reached himself now, still intuned, just barely, to the electromagnetic pulses of life. 

The image looking back at him was in the shape of a crescent. It was the very shape which he saw in his recharge terrors, the one which, ever present, hung in the background, watching him like a cybercat would a mouse. 

His spark felt cold. He closed the spectrograph and opened his optics, staring at the gentle light of Earth’s moon shining in through the window. His internal clock beeped a warning to him–five hours until he was designated to be at the clinic. A pop-up recommending he enter recharge appeared. He moved to close it.

Tank capacity at 68%. Fuel uptake at &%#$^*(&%$$%&&%$%^^^&* Seek alternate fuel source. Seek alternate fuel source. Seek alternate fuel source. 

Dozens more appeared at the death of the one. He pushed the notifications away. 

Seek alternate fuel source.

They came back, one after the other. His frame felt like it had been starved of Energon for years. 

Seek alternate fuel source. 

He forced his optics to shutter, letting the notifications drown out the fear he felt. 

Seek alternate fuel source.

It was going to be a long recharge. 

[dessonges]

Sun Releases 2 of its Strongest Flares yet on May 11, 2024 | 24h time-lapse (AIA 0304 Å) Courtesy of NASA/SDO, AIA, EVE, & HMI science teams.

The Sun emitted two of its strongest solar flares yet from an active sunspot region called AR3664, peaking at 01:23am UTC on May 11, 2024, and 11:44am UTC on May 11, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured images of the events. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts. The flares are classified as X5.8 and X1.5-class flares, respectively. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

Excerpt from NASA Solar Cycle 25 blog post