GEOMAGNETIC 'SPIKES' HINT AT A SUBTERRANEAN MYSTERY: Evidence is growing that Earth's magnetic field can suddenly change in unexpected ways. About 3000 years ago, a bundle of magnetic flux erupted from our planet's crust in the Middle East, intensifying the local magnetic field by more than 100% in less than 30 years, before it subsided again. A similar geomagnetic 'spike' may have occurred in Texas around the same time. These events, which are preserved in the magnetization of ancient copper slag and ferromagnetic crystals, suggest that Earth's liquid iron core may not be as well behaved as previously thought: full story.

AURORAS RETREAT TO THE ARCTIC: Two nights ago, sky watchers in a dozen US states (even Nebraska!) were surprised by the sudden appearance of bright auroras. Now those Northern Lights are retreating to the Arctic. Matti Helin saw them sweeping across southern Finland on Nov. 8-9:

"The auroras were wild," says Helin. "They were all over the place. Rays, flickering lights, bright red... and they were moving very fast."

Around the Arctic Circle, the show could continue for days. NOAA forecasters say there is a ~50% chance of G1-class geomagnetic storms on Nov. 9th, 10th, and 11th--all due to the waning action of the solar wind stream that engulfed Earth on Nov. 7th. Free: Aurora Alerts.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

SPACE WEATHER BALLOONING OVER MEXICO: For the rest of this week, Spaceweather.com is reporting from Mexico. We're here to launch the first-ever space weather balloon over this country, adding a new low-laltitude outpost to our growing global balloon network:

Our collaborators are Prof. Juan Sumaya of the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de México and a group of his physics students. Together we will launch balloons over Mexico on Nov. 10th and 11th to measure cosmic radiation including X-rays, gamma-rays and neutrons. On Nov.11th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus will launch an identical payload from the Sierra Nevada mountains near Bishop, California, for comparison.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SOLAR ECLIPSE CRYSTAL PYRAMID: On Aug. 21, 2017, during the Great American Solar Eclipse, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched 11 space weather balloons from the path of totality. The armada of balloons soared into the stratosphere, touching the shadow of the Moon more than 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. As a fundraiser, one of the balloons carried this pyramid, and you can have it for $139.95:

With the sun, Earth, and Moon perfectly aligned, the faces of the 5-sided crystal caught the reflection of the eclipsed sun while wrapped in the space-cold shadow of our planet's gray cratered companion. Watch the video! The payload capsule contained more crystals just like it.

Each pyramid comes with a unique gift card showing the crystal floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere and passing through the Moon's shadow. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight and confirms that this gift has been to the edge of space and back again.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education