TARDY CME SPARKS AURORAS OVER ALASKA: Arriving hours later than expected, a CME brushed past Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 9th at approximately 0600 UT. At first the weak impact did little to spark geomagnetic activity. As Earth passed through the CME's magnetized wake, however, auroras did appear. Marketa Murray sends this picture from a spot outside Fairbanks, Alaska:
"The CME arrived midnight Alaska time and we had amazing red auroras," says Murray.
In parts of Alaska, the light show lasted for hours. "A big campfire and a beautiful all-night aurora dance kept me warm and entertained in Alaska's chilly Interior near Nenana until 4:30 am," reports Todd Salat, who witnessed his own amazing display.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? More auroras are in the offing. A coronal hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere and it is spewing a stream of solar wind toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the structure on Nov. 9th:
Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows plasma (ionized gas) normally trapped by magnetic forces to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole is expected to reach our planet on Nov. 11-12, possibly sparking geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras when it arrives. Stay tuned for updates as the solar wind approaches. Free: Aurora Alerts
FLIGHT OF THE SPACE PICKLE: Did you know that cosmic radiation in Earth's atmosphere is increasing? It's true. These and other findings of the Earth to Sky Calculus ballooning program are funded not by government grants or corporate donations. Instead, we rely on crowdfunding. Hence, the flight of the space pickle:
To raise funds for their ongoing research, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew two dozen Christmas pickles to the stratosphere. On Nov. 5th, the glass gherkins ascended to an altitude of 111,900 feet, experiencing temperatures as low as -55 C and cosmic ray dose rates more than 100x Earth normal.
You can have one for your own tree. Price: $49.95. All proceeds are used to support cutting-edge student research. The space pickle and other edge of space gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky Store.
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