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SOLAR ECLIPSE SEASON IN SPACE: Eclipse season for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has begun. Every day for the next three weeks, around 0730 UT, Earth will pass between SDO and the sun, producing images that look like this. This is a twice-a-year event for SDO caused by the alignment of the sun and Earth as seen from the spacecraft's geosynchronous orbit. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
COSMIC RAY UPDATE: Cosmic rays in the atmosphere are rapidly subsiding. In the past year alone, radiation levels in the air high above California have plummeted more than 15%, according to regular launches of cosmic ray balloons by Spaceweather.com and Earth to Sky Calculus. The latest measurement on July 23, 2022, registered a 6 year low:
This development, while sudden, is not unexpected. Cosmic rays from deep space are repelled by solar activity; when one goes up, the other goes down. Since 2021, Solar Cycle 25 has
roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The onset of the new solar cycle has naturally led to a decrease in cosmic radiation reaching Earth.
To many readers this may sound counterintuitive. After all, don't solar flares produce radiation? Yes, but most high-energy radiation doesn't come from the sun; it comes from deep space. Every day galactic cosmic rays from distant supernova explosions pass through the Solar System. When they hit the top of Earth's atmosphere, they create a secondary spray of radiation, which we measure using sensors onboard our balloons.
The sun makes it more difficult for these cosmic rays to reach Earth. Simply put, when the sun is active, its magnetic field gets stronger and more tangled. Cosmic rays have trouble penetrating the magnetic thicket. Also, individual CMEs sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
Above: Earth to Sky students launch a cosmic ray balloon on July 23, 2022.
There is considerable interest in atmospheric cosmic rays. Climate scientists are engaged in a lively debate about whether or not cosmic rays affect cloud cover. (The consensus seems to be mostly not.) Cosmic rays also penetrate aircraft, boosting the risk of cancer among frequent fliers and flight crews.
Solar Maximum is expected in 2025, so the downward trend in cosmic radiation should continue for years to come. How low will it go? Stay tuned for updates.
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COSMIC RAY BALLOON PHOTOGRAPHS PYROCUMULOUS CLOUDS: An extreme wildfire is burning out of control near Yosemite National Park. Here's what it looks like from the stratosphere:
This image shows the "Oak Fire" from an altitude of 98,540 feet. At the epicenter, a pyrocumulous cloud can be seen rising more than 10,000 feet in the air. From there, a wedge of dense smoke stretches more than 60 miles across the Sierra, blanketing Mono Lake in the lower right corner.
The photo was taken by a camera onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, which we launched on July 23rd to investigate that morning's geomagnetic storm. The Oak Fire was an unexpected catch.
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"I LOVE YOU MORE" MOONSTONE PENDANT: Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from space. On May 26th, this sterling silver moonstone pendant hitched a ride to the stratosphere on an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here it is floating 112,201 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $142.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Engraved with "I Love You More," it makes a great anniversary, birthday or (never too early!) Christmas gift. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the moonstone in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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Every night, a network of
NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On July 26, 2022, the network reported 29 fireballs.
(24 sporadics, 2 alpha Capricornids, 2 southern Delta Aquarids, 1 Perseid)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (
PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding
new ones all the time.
On July 26, 2022 there were 2284 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2022 OG | 2022-Jul-23 | 6 LD | 13 | 26 |
| 2017 RX2 | 2022-Jul-24 | 17.2 LD | 14.2 | 17 |
| 2022 NV1 | 2022-Jul-24 | 13 LD | 8.1 | 52 |
| 2022 ON | 2022-Jul-25 | 5.1 LD | 11.6 | 13 |
| 2022 OA | 2022-Jul-25 | 5 LD | 10.5 | 42 |
| 2022 OY | 2022-Jul-26 | 15.3 LD | 13.1 | 30 |
| 2022 ML3 | 2022-Jul-26 | 7.6 LD | 1.5 | 12 |
| 2022 NU1 | 2022-Jul-29 | 12.3 LD | 8.3 | 44 |
| 2022 OG1 | 2022-Jul-29 | 4.6 LD | 5 | 13 |
| 2016 CZ31 | 2022-Jul-29 | 7.3 LD | 15.5 | 129 |
| 531944 | 2022-Jul-30 | 18.2 LD | 5.9 | 192 |
| 2020 PP1 | 2022-Aug-01 | 13.1 LD | 3.7 | 17 |
| 2020 PN1 | 2022-Aug-03 | 9.7 LD | 4.6 | 29 |
| 2015 FF | 2022-Aug-12 | 11.2 LD | 9.2 | 17 |
| 2019 AV13 | 2022-Aug-22 | 19.1 LD | 8.8 | 135 |
| 2020 QW3 | 2022-Aug-22 | 14.1 LD | 18.1 | 30 |
| 2015 QH3 | 2022-Aug-22 | 5.6 LD | 7 | 14 |
| 2017 BU | 2022-Aug-29 | 15.8 LD | 7 | 32 |
| 2021 CQ5 | 2022-Sep-01 | 8.7 LD | 13.5 | 7 |
| 2020 PT4 | 2022-Sep-15 | 19.7 LD | 10.8 | 39 |
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach. | | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
| | The official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| | The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| | Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| | 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory |
| | Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| | information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary |
| | from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| | fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| | from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| | the underlying science of space weather |
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