EXITING THE SOLAR WIND STREAM: Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind that has sparked bright auroras around the Arctic Circle since Nov. 7th. Interruptions in the light show are only temporary, however. A new stream of solar wind is approaching Earth. Estimated time of arrival: Nov. 14th. The waning crescent Moon will provide dark skies for Northern Lights next week. Free: Aurora Alerts.
MORNING CONJUNCTION: Set your alarm for dawn. Venus and Jupiter are converging for a lovely conjunction in the early morning sky. "This morning I caught both planets a little before sunrise," says Peter Rosén who sends this picture from Stockholm, Sweden:
"This is just the beginning," says Rosén. "The two planets will grow much closer together in the mornings ahead."
At closest approach on Nov. 13th, Venus and Jupiter will be less than 0.3 degrees apart--so close that you can hide them together behind an outstretched pinky finger. A small telescope will show both planetary disks in the field of view at the same time. That's worth waking up for. Sky maps: Nov. 12, 13, 14.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
AURORA SURPRISE: On Nov. 7th, something surprising happened. Forecasters predicted minor geomagnetic storms as a solar wind stream approached Earth. When it arrived, however, the resulting light show was anything but minor. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into more than a dozen United States. Laurie Kragseth took this picture from Two Harbors, Minnesota:
"It was so beautiful! I'm glad I was able to capture these before the moon came out," she says.
At the peak of the display, Northern Lights were sighted as far south as Nebraska. What happened? A solar wind stream hit Earth--but this was no ordinary stream of gas. Its leading edge contained a co-rotating interaction region (CIR). CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind; they hold density gradients and strong magnetic fields that do an extra-good job sparking auroras. The arrival of the CIR sparked a G2-class geomagnetic storm and a surprisingly good show.
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