AURORAS--RIGHT NOW: "We're having an incredible night in Abisko National Park," reports Chad Blakley of Abisko, Sweden. "I was shocked when I saw the sky. The auroras are rocking!" Watch the show live on the Lights over Lapland web cam.
WEEKEND AURORA WATCH: Auroras are flickering around the Arctic Circle this weekend as Earth passes through a stream of fast-moving solar wind. Markus Varik photographed the display last night in Trosmø, Norway:
"The horses were paying no attention to the auroras," says Varik, "but they held very still for this picture."
NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Feb. 5th as Earth slowly exits this stream of solar wind. Although the odds of a storm are relatively low, Arctic sky watchers should remain alert for auroras on Sunday night as the solar wind continues to blow faster than 500 km/s. Free: Aurora alerts.
CORONAL HOLE STARES AT EARTH: A hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the opening on Feb. 5th pointing almost directly at Earth:
This is a "coronal hole" (CH)--a region in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field has opened up, allowing solar wind to escape. Solar wind flowing from this hole is heading for our planet and could arrive as early as Feb. 7th. Polar sky watchers shoud be alert for auroras when the stream arrives.
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. Or rather, bear-funding:
To raise funds for their ongoing research, on Jan. 31st the students flew a payload-full of these ursine astronauts to the edge of space. You can have one for $79.95. A space rose is included, too, pressed for safekeeping. Each bear+rose duo comes with a Valentine's card showing the bears in flight and telling the story of their trip to the stratosphere.
More out of this world gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky store.
Realtime Airglow Photo Gallery