A 'STEALTH CME' APPROACHES: When the sun blasts a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space, the event is usually announced by the bright flash of a solar flare or the collapse of a towering magnetic filament. But not always. Sometimes CMEs slowly materialize on their own without an instigating explosion. These are called "stealth CMEs," and one of them is heading for Earth now. A relatively gentle blow from the slow-moving storm cloud could unsettle Earth's polar magnetic field on May 10th. Free: Aurora Alerts
AN EXPLOSION WAITING TO HAPPEN? (UPDATED) Suddenly, huge filaments of magnetism are rising and falling on the northeastern edge of the sun. James Kevin Ty saw them on May 9th as the sun rose over Manila, the Philippines. He took this picture using a ZWO megapixel astronomy camera and a Daystar solar filter tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen:
"The seeing was good this morning, and these looping prominences were immediately visible," says Ty. "They are quite impressive."
They might soon become explosive. Prominences like these are, essentially, vast tubes of magnetism filled with hot plasma. If any magnetic lines of force cross as the filaments seethe--bang!--the crossing could trigger a ferocious explosion. The process is called "magnetic reconnection."
Hours after Ty first spotted the prominences, Sylvain Weiller of Jerusalem, Israel, used his own solar telescope to check their condition. He found this one tearing itself apart in a ferocious solar firestorm:
"This is a 5 hour time lapse," says Weiller. "At first the prominence looked huge and quiet. After a few hours of imaging, I had a radically different feeling about it."
So far no episodes of magnetic reconnection have been observed, but these structures are dynamic enough without such explosions. Astronomers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
MOTHER'S DAY AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: These pendants have touched space--and returned to Earth in time for Mother's Day. On April 15, 2017, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a payload-full of heart-shaped Venus pendants to the stratosphere onboard a high-altitude helium balloon. Here's one, 111,550 feet above the Sierras of central California:
These blue jewels make great Mother's Day gifts--and you have have one for $129.95. Each glittering pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
More far-out Mother's Day gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky Store. All proceeds support atmospheric radiation monitoring and hands-on STEM education.