ASHEVILLE (AP) — A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution printed 237 years ago sent to the states to be ratified is being auctioned Thursday evening in North Carolina.

Brunk Auctions is selling the copy — the only of its type thought to be in private hands. The minimum bid of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached.

This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation’s government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It’s one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned.

Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them.

What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson’s signature and 2022 is not known.

Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.

The copy was found inside a squat, two-drawer metal filing cabinet with a can of stain on top, in a long-neglected room piled high with old chairs and a dusty book case, before the old Johnston house was preserved. The document was a broad sheet that could be folded one time like a book.

Along with the Constitution on the broad sheet printed front and back is a letter from George Washington asking for ratification. He acknowledged there will have to be compromise and that rights the states enjoyed will have to be given up for the nation’s long-term health.

Auction officials are not sure what the document might go for because there is so little to compare it to. The last time a copy of the Constitution that was sent to the states sold, it was for $400 in 1891. In 2021, Sotheby’s of New York sold one of only 14 remaining copies of the Constitution printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention for $43.2 million, a record for a book or document.

Other items up for auction in Asheville include a 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1788 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough where representatives spent two weeks debating if ratifying the Constitution would put too much power with the nation instead of the states.

The auction was originally set for Sept. 28, but the auction house delayed it after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage through Asheville and the rest of the North Carolina mountains.

NEW YORK (AP) — Expect to see more northern lights in unusual places as the sun continues to sizzle, space weather forecasters said Tuesday.

Strong solar storms this year have triggered shimmering auroras much farther south than usual, filling skies with hues of pink, purple, green and blue.

The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, making solar surges and northern lights more frequent. This active period was expected to last for at least another year, though when solar activity will peak won’t be known until months after the fact, according to NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This solar cycle has yielded more colorful auroras farther south and more are likely, said NASA’s Kelly Korreck.

“We still could possibly get some good shows in the next few months,” she said.

Such storms can also temporarily disrupt power and communications. Ahead of a solar outburst, NOAA would alert operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit.

In May, NOAA issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning. The storm that slammed Earth was the strongest in more than two decades, producing light displays across the Northern Hemisphere. That same month, scientists recorded the biggest flare erupting from the sun, but Earth was out of the way.

Previous solar cycles have produced storms more intense than May’s so space forecasters are keeping a close eye on the sun to prepare for any major disruptions, said NOAA’s Bill Murtagh.

Last week, a powerful solar storm dazzled skygazers far from the Arctic Circle when auroras appeared in unexpected places including Germany, the United Kingdom, New England and New York City.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit Monday with a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy. It is the first time he’s been sued by a person alleging they were abused as a minor.

At least six lawsuits were filed against Combs in federal court in Manhattan, adding to a growing list of legal claims against the indicted hip-hop mogul, all of which he has denied. The lawsuits were filed anonymously to protect the identities of the accusers, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.

Some of the Does, echoing others who’ve accused Combs in recent months, allege that he used his fame and the promise of potential stardom to entice victims to lavish parties or drug-fueled hangouts where he then assaulted them. Some allege that he beat or drugged them. Others say he threatened to kill them if they didn’t do as he pleased or if they spoke out against him.

The lawsuits describe alleged assaults dating to the mid-1990s, including at Combs’ celebrity-studded white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons, at a party in Brooklyn celebrating Combs’ then-collaborator Biggie Smalls, and even in the storeroom at Macy’s flagship department store in midtown Manhattan.

The plaintiffs in Monday’s lawsuits are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 accusers who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs following his Sept. 16 federal sex trafficking arrest. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tony Buzbee announced the planned litigation at an Oct. 1 news conference and posted a 1-800 number for accusers to call.

In a statement, Combs’ lawyers slammed those tactics as “clear attempts to garner publicity,” and said the rapper and his legal team “have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone—adult or minor, man or woman.”

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case, which involves allegations he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Twice denied bail, the Bad Boy Records founder remains locked up at a Brooklyn federal jail while awaiting trial in May. Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released. On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.

Before Monday’s raft of lawsuits, all of the accusers suing Combs had been adults at the time of their alleged abuse, although a Chicago record producer claimed in a February suit that he had “irrefutable evidence” of Combs sexually abusing minors.

In a lawsuit Monday, a John Doe alleged that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of Combs’ white parties in 1998. The man, who now lives in North Carolina, alleges that Combs told him he had “the look” of a star and then abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants.

According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking him: “Don’t you want to break into the business?” The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and a power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realizing later that what he says happened was sexual assault.

Other lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.

One of the Jane Does alleges Combs raped her in a locked hotel room in 2004 after he invited her and a friend there for a party, gave them drinks and told them to snort cocaine. The woman, then a college freshman, alleges Combs also forced her friend to perform oral sex on him and threatened their lives if they didn’t comply.

Another Jane Doe alleged Combs violently attacked and raped her in a bathroom in 1995 at a party in Brooklyn for Smalls’ music video, “One More Chance.” Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., was killed two years later in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.

According to the woman, Combs brought her into the bathroom to talk privately and started kissing her unexpectedly. When she tried pulling away, she alleges, he slammed her head against the wall, causing her to fall to the floor. She said she tried to escape, but Combs hit her again and raped her.

Afterward, according to the woman, Combs nonchalantly adjusted his clothing and told her: “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear.”

The other John Doe lawsuits allege: Combs sexually assaulted a security guard at a 2006 white party after giving him a drugged beverage; forced a man working for a rival fashion brand to perform oral sex on him in the Macy’s stockroom in 2008; and sexually assaulted a man at a party in October 2021.

The latter man, who suspects a drugged beverage left him unable to fight back, recalls multiple men assaulting him and distinctly recalls seeing Combs above him, naked, at one point during the assault, his lawsuit said.