SOLAR WIND SPARKS NORTHERN LIGHTS: For the second day in a row, Earth is inside a stream of solar wind blowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. Moving with speeds near 700 km/s, the electrified gas is buffeting Earth's magnetic field and sparking bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Bernard Marschner sends this picture from Fairbanks, Alaska:
"On Feb. 1st, I drove out of Fairbanks to photograph the auroras over a black spruce forest," says Marschner. "At first the lights were dim, and it was very cold outside (-5 F), so I sat in the car with the motor running to keep myself and my camera warm. Suddenly the sky exploded in color! I hopped out for photos, and it didn't seem quite so cold any more."
More auroras are possible tonight as Earth continues to move through the solar wind stream. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Feb. 2nd. Free: Aurora alerts.
MOLTEN SUNSET: Yesterday evening in Istanbul, Turkey, Ender Gökçebay witnessed something amazing. "As the setting sun approached the Sea of Marmara, the lower half of the sun extended downwards to touch an image of itself rising out of the waves." He took this picture of the phenomenon:
Jules Verne famously likened this kind of sunset to an Etruscan Vase. Others call it an "Omega sunset" because it resembles the Greek letter. Either way, it is caused by warm air overlying the sea surface, which refracts the rays of the setting sun to produce a mirage, as shown.
This happens more often than you might suppose. Just hours earlier, Derrick Lim saw the same kind of mirage in Kedah, Malaysia. "The setting sun is usually hidden behind low clouds here in Malaysia, but yesterday for a change we had a crystal-clear horizon," he says. "What a beautiful view."
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
FAR-OUT VALENTINE'S GIFT: 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, the students rely on crowdfunding. Hence, the "I Heart Pluto" Valentine's keepsake:
To raise funds for their ongoing research, the students recently flew a payload-full of these to the stratosphere--and you can have one for $59.95.
The ceramic disk highlights Tombaugh Regio–a.k.a. "Pluto's heart"–discovered by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft when it flew past Pluto in July 2015. The heart-shaped region is geologically active with glacial flows and towering mountains of ice. Some researchers think the icy crust of Pluto's Heart caps an underground ocean of liquid water.
Each disk comes with a Valentine's card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere. More out of this world gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky store.
Realtime Airglow Photo Gallery