OPPOSITE LIGHTNING AMONG THE PERSEIDS: It's rare to catch even one Transient Luminous Event (TLE) photobombing a meteor shower. On Aug. 13th, Frankie Lucena caught two:

"I was photographing the Perseids from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, when a Gigantic Jet appeared with a sprite right beside it," says Lucena. "They came from a powerful thunderstorm due south of the island."

This is weird because Gigantic Jets and sprites are created by opposite physics. Gigantic Jets are a type of lightning that emerges from the top of an electrical storm. To escape the thundercloud, it has to punch through an overhanging wall of opposing charge.

Red sprites, on the other hand, are caused by lightning striking the ground.

"I found a -144 kA stroke associated with this event in the Vaisala Xweather Lightning data," says Lucena. (That's 5 times stronger than a typical stroke.)

When such a powerful bolt hits, it suddenly removes a large amount of the storm's electric charge. For a few thousandths of a second, a strong electric field appears in the sky above the storm. Fifty miles up, the air is so thin it breaks down and glows red--a sprite.

Catching both in one frame means the same storm system, in the same split second, produced two rare events that require completely different conditions. Well done, Frankie!

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CONSTELLATION CAT NIGHT LIGHT: It's the most far-out feline night light ever--The Constellation Cat. On April 23rd, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a giant helium balloon:

You can have it for $139.95. Outlined by stars in the style of an astronomical constellation, the laser-etched cat comes with an LED stand that produces a soothing glow for your bedside table. Also included: A unique greeting card shows the crystal ball in flight and tells the story of its journey to the edge of space.

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CHANCE OF FLARES TODAY: New sunspot AR4513 is crackling with solar flares as it turns toward Earth. Yesterday's M8-class explosion produced an impressive CME just outside our planet's strike zone. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of more M-flares and a 10% chance of X-flares on Aug. 21st. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

FLYING THROUGH THE MOON'S SHADOW: The total solar eclipse of Aug. 12, 2026, produced so many beautiful pictures. The best may have been taken from the nose of Iberia flight IB1473. You decide:

Take a closer look at the full-sized photo. The eclipsed sun hangs in the middle of the darkness with Venus nearby. And there's a mystery aircraft crossing the zone of totality.

Veteran astrophotographer Juan Carlos Casado took this remarkable picture using a camera mounted near the nose of the Airbus A321. The plane was chartered by the SHELIOS expedition group to intercept the Moon's shadow above Spain and it succeeded.

Indeed, the Moon's shadow dominates Casado's photo. It is not a simple spot of darkness. It is an enormous cone of darkness nearly a quarter of a million miles long, stretching from the Moon all the way to Earth. During the eclipse, this cone enveloped the aircraft from behind. The horizon glows orange in every direction outside the shadow.

The cockpit was a sweet place to experience the Moon's shadow. At 31,000 feet the air was clear and steady. Flying a carefully computed racetrack pattern, the pilots stayed inside the shadow for 2 minutes and 8 seconds--longer than any observer on the ground.

Bonus: Casado's team has not been able to identify the mystery airplane. Do you recognize the flight? Submit your answers here.

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CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE PENDANT: This meteorite came from space. We sent it back again. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, more than 109,620 feet above the Sierra Nevada near Bishop, CA:

You can have it for $249.95. Encased in a sterling silver cage, this is a genuine iron-nickel Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina. It landed on Earth 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, and made the return trip on Aug. 15, 2026. This pendant comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight.

The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.

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