SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS: NOAA forecasters say there is a 20% chance of G1-class geomagnetic storms on Feb. 1st as a solar wind stream grazes Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is not hitting our planet head-on. Nevertheless, it is causing intermittent episodes of bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Free: Aurora Alerts
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON: Yesterday, Jan. 31st, the full Moon passed directly through the shadow of Earth, producing a total lunar eclipse. The shadowed Moon turned a coppery shade of orange visible in Asia, Australia and much of North America. Petr Horálek watched the eclipse through the hot embers of a "human volcano" at Lamai Beach in Thailand:
"I was walking on the Lamai beach with my camera, waiting for the eclipse to begin, when I came upon a group of people preparing a 'full moon party' complete with a spectacular fire-man show," says Horálek. "They have these parties every month. With the bloody Moon hanging over the human volcano, the show was definitely much more spectacular than usual."
More moonshots--lots more--may be found in the realtime photo gallery:
Realtime Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery
UNIQUE VALENTINE'S GIFT: Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from space. On Jan. 27, 2018, using a space weather balloon, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a payload-full of moonstone pendants 115,158 ft above Earth's surface. This one passed through an icy sun halo en route to the stratosphere:
You can have one for $179.95. Each necklace comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education