INCREASING CHANCE OF MAGNETIC STORMS: NOAA forecasters have upgraded their estimate of next week's geomagnetic storm from G1-class (minor) to G2-class (moderately strong). These thresholds may be exceeded on Dec. 4th and 5th when a stream of solar wind reaches Earth, blowing past our planet faster than 600 km/s (1.3 million mph). G2-class geomagnetic storms can confuse wildlife that use magnetic cues for navigation and have been known to spark Northern Lights as far south as a line from New York to Wisconsin to Washington state. Free: Aurora Alerts.
WATCH OUT FOR THE SUPERMOON: The biggest and brightest full Moon of 2017 is coming this weekend, on Sunday night, Dec. 3rd. It's a perigee "supermoon," almost 8% wider and 16% brighter than an average full Moon. This morning, Dec. 2nd, Masa Nakamura photographed the waxing orb over Otawara,Tochigi, Japan:
Full moons vary in size because the Moon's orbit is not a circle, it's an ellipse: diagram. One side of the Moon's orbit, called "perigee," is 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other side, "apogee." This Sunday's Moon becomes full only 16 hours away from perigee, closer than any other full Moon of 2017.
Some people say you can't tell the difference between a supermoon and a regular Moon. A 16% difference in brightness can easily be masked by clouds or the glare of urban lights. Also, there are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon looks much like any other. There is no doubt, however, that supermoons are genuinely bigger than their ordinary cousins.
To get the most out of Sunday's apparition, try to catch the Moon just as it is rising or setting. This will activate the Moon Illusion and make the perigee Moon of Dec. 3rd look super, indeed.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
RARE WINTER SPRITES: Red sprites tend to be a summertime phenomenon. They shoot up from the tops of summer thunderstorms, reaching toward the edge of space, while their cousins, normal lightning bolts, lance down to the ground below. So it came as a surprise, on the night of Dec. 2nd, when Martin Popek photographed a phalanx of winter sprites leaping above the snowy landscape of the Czech republic:
"This is a very rare thing," says Popek. "I've been monitoring sprites from my private observatory since 2011. This is only the second storm with red sprites I have ever seen in December."
Sprites are a true space weather phenomenon. Some researchers believe they are linked to cosmic rays: subatomic particles from deep space striking the top of Earth's atmosphere produce secondary electrons that, in turn, provide the spark that triggers sprites. If this is true, then sprites could multiply in the years ahead as cosmic rays intensify due to the decline of the solar cycle. Indeed, increasing levels of cosmic rays might explain by the strange red forms are spilling over into the "off-season."
Although sprites have been seen for at least a century, most scientists did not believe they existed until after 1989 when sprites were photographed by cameras onboard the space shuttle. Now "sprite chasers" routinely photograph sprites from their own homes. "I used up a Watec 910HX security camera with UFOCapture software to catch my sprites," says Popek. Give it a try!
diagram: How to Look for Sprites
FAR OUT CHRISTMAS GIFT: Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like jewelry from space. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus have flown a payload-full of heart-shaped Venus pendants to the stratosphere onboard a high-altitude helium balloon. This video shows one floating 111,550 feet above the Sierras of central California:
These blue jewels make great Christmas gifts--and you have have one for $149.95. 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. All proceeds support STEM education and high altitude cosmic ray research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education