SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS TODAY: A solar wind stream flowing from a small hole in the sun's atmosphere will hit Earth's magnetic field on June 2nd or 3rd. NOAA forecasters say there is a 15% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the solar wind arrives. Free: Aurora Alerts
AN ACTIVE SUNSPOT EMERGES: On June 1st, a small but surprisingly active sunspot rotated over the sun's eastern limb. It announced itself with a fusillade of C-class solar flares. One of them hurled this plume and ball of plasma high above the sun's surface:
Numbered AR2661, this new sunspot is still rotating into view, so its full size and potential for stronger flares is not yet known. This much is certain: It has already propelled a series of coronal mass ejections (CME) into space. A movie from SOHO shows them billowing away from the sun's eastern limb. These are the kind of clouds that can spark strong geomagnetic storms. (See "A Quake in Earth's Magnetic Field", below.) So far, none of the explosions have targeted Earth, although this could change in the days ahead as AR2661 rotates toward our planet. Stay tuned for updates. Free: Solar Flare Alerts
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
A QUAKE IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD: A solar coronal mass ejection (CME) struck Earth on May 27th. In Lancashire, England, a magnetometer operated by Stuart Green captured the subsequent quaking of Earth's magnetic field:
"The CME strike over the weekend left Earth's magnetic field ringing like a bell for around 12 hours, as my magnetometer data show," says Green. "It's always exciting to record such events as it is a tangible reinforcement of the real physical connection between our planet and the powerhouse that sustains life on Earth."
When forecasters say "a geomagnetic storm is in progress," the quaking Green recorded is what they mean. Vibrations in the magnetic field can induce electrical currents in the ground, causing voltage fluctuations in power systems and in rare cases complete blackouts. The same vibrations allow particles normally trapped in our planet's magnetosphere to rain down around the poles, igniting auroras.
The strong geomagnetic storm of May 27-28 registered G3 on the NOAA scale of geomagnetic disturbances. In the northern hemisphere, observers saw Northern Lights as far south as California. In the southern hemisphere, skies lit up like they hadn't for decades:
"While I was taking these pictures, I was reminded of displays during the big Solar Maxima of 1989-1990 and 2000-2001, " says photographer Minoru Yoneto of Queenstown, New Zealand. "The Southern Lights could already be seen during astronomical twilight; they were quite strong."
This event is remarkable considering the phase of the sunspot cycle: The sun is rapidly plunging toward Solar Minimum. Sunspots are scarce and solar flares are weak at best. The CME that caused this 'quake' was hurled toward Earth by a seemingly minor magnetic reorganization in the sun's atmosphere. And so space weather continues--no sunspots required. Free: Aurora Alerts
UNIQUE FATHER'S DAY GIFT: Father's Day is coming soon. What do you give the dad who has everything? How about a trip to the edge of space? For the next two weeks, we're reducing the cost of payload space on Earth to Sky Calculus balloons from $500 to only $299. Buy a "Ticket to Space" before June 15th and give it to dad!
At any time during the next 12 months, he can use this certificate to send an experiment, photo, or keepsake item to the stratosphere, completely supported by an Earth to Sky Calculus launch and recovery team. All items are flown and returned along with video footage, GPS tracking, temperature, pressure, altimetry and radiation data. A Skype brainstorming session is included with each certificate.
More edge of space Father's Day gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky Store.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery