CME TO SIDESWIPE EARTH THIS WEEK: On May 23rd, the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory observed a CME leaving the sun: movie. NOAA analysts say the plasma-filled cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field midday on May 26th, causing geomagnetic unrest and polar auroras. Free: Aurora Alerts
THE MIDNIGHT GLOW: Midnight is supposed to be dark. But at this time of year, northern sky watchers are seeing something contrary: a midnight glow. Ruslan Merzlyakov photographed the phenomenon on May 21st from Nykøbing Mors, Denmark:
"This is how dark the sky is during the summertime," says Merzlyakov. At midnight, the sun was only about 13 degrees below the horizon, so the glow was visible long after the sun had set. "The Milky Way won't be available to photograph again until the beginning of August."
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
THE UNUSUAL ORBIT OF SPY SATELLITE USA 276: On May 1st, SpaceX launched a classified satellite from Cape Canaveral: USA 276. "Last night, it passed over my house glowing like a 3rd magnitude star," reports veteran satellite observer Marco Langbroek, who sends this picture from Leiden, the Netherlands:
"The mystery payload appeared alongside a number of other objects (including the classified Milstar 3 r/b)," he says. "It's getting crowded up there."
Immediately after its May 1st launch, USA 276 was a topic of much discussion among expert observers. "The launch azimuth seemed to suggest a 50 degree orbital inclination," says Langbroek. "That would be odd, so not everybody was willing to believe this." But now it is clear that USA 276 does have such an orbit.
As Langbroek explains in his blog, other military and reconnaissance satellites tend to have orbital inclinations clustered around 57 degrees, 123 degrees, 63.4 degrees or 98 degrees.
"An orbital inclination of 50.0 degrees, as shown by USA 276, is odd and unusual. The orbit of USA 276 is remarkably similar to that of the ISS, in fact, as shown by Ted Molczan in a private communication. The two can potentially even make quite close approaches, to within a few km."
Indeed, a close encounter could be in the offing. "I have found that on June 4, USA 276 will in fact be very close by when the SpaceX DRAGON CRS-11 supply ship is scheduled to arrive at the ISS--that is, if USA 276 doesn't change its current orbit before then. Observers in Europe might see the three objects close together in their evening twilight of June 3, with USA 276 some 15 degrees distant from the ISS."
No one knows if this is plan or pure coincidence ... or if the conjunction will even happen. One thing is sure: Observers in Europe will be watching. Stay tuned for updates.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
THIS PENDANT HAS TOUCHED SPACE: The radiation monitoring program of Earth to Sky Calculus receives no support from corporate sponsors or government grants. Instead, we are crowd-funded. Or, to be more precise, bling-funded:
To raise money for more cosmic ray balloon flights, on May 6th the students launched a payload of these Northern Lights pendants to the top of Earth's atmosphere. You can have one for $79.95. Each piece of space jewelry comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back. They make great birthday and belated Mother's Day gifts.
More far-out gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky Store. All proceeds support atmospheric radiation monitoring and hands-on STEM education.