SIMMERING QUIET: Earth is passing through a disorganized stream of solar wind flowing from a network of small holes in the sun's atmosphere. So far the gentle buffeting has caused only minor geomagnetic unrest. "Simmering quiet" conditions should continue until July 1st or 2nd, when a more coherent stream is expected to arrive. Free: Aurora alerts.
MARTIAN GLITTER PATH: Mars is brightening as it approaches Earth for a 15-year close encounter on July 27th. The Red Planet now shines like a beacon in the midnight sky second in luminosity only to giant Jupiter. "With Mars now so bright, it casts a glitter path on the water as it rises in the southeast, reports Alan Dyer, who took this picture from a prairie pond near his home in Alberta, Canada:
A glitter path is a band of light in the water. It is caused by reflections from the troughs and crest of tiny waves. Normally, only the sun and Moon (and sometimes Venus and Jupiter) produce glitter paths. Now Mars is doing it too.
"I also took a panoramic shot showing Mars and Jupiter with their respective glitter paths flanking the Milky Way and Saturn in Sagittarius," says Dyer.
The glitter is about to multiply. On June 29th and 30th, the waning gibbous Moon will pass Mars in the constellation Capricornus, producing a bright double glitter path for anyone standing on a beach at midnight. Enjoy the show! Sky maps: June 29, 30.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS FROM ABOVE & BELOW: For the 4th week in a row, NASA's AIM spacecraft has observed an increase in noctilucent clouds (NLCs) above the Arctic Circle. This is the latest image showing our planet's north pole capped in electric-blue:
AIM is in a polar orbit ~500 km above Earth's surface--the perfect location to see noctilucent clouds. Data from the spacecraft show electric-blue tendrils spilling over the Arctic Circle into Canada and especially Europe.
As AIM monitors the clouds from above, people are starting to see them from below as well. Last night, Michael Zavyalov took this picture from Vyatskoe, a village in the Yaroslavl region of Russia:
"The silvery clouds were uniquely vivid," says Zavyalov. "They glowed in the night sky long after sunset with waves and ripples unlike any other clouds I have seen."
NLCs are our planet's highest clouds. They form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise to the top of Earth's atmosphere and crystalize around specks of meteor smoke. Rippling mesospheric winds gather the resulting ice crystals into swarms floating ~80 km above the ground.
When noctilucent clouds first appeared in the 19th century, you had to travel to the Arctic to see them. In recent years, however, NLCs have intensified and spread with summer sightings as far south as Utah and Colorado. Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped well below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
ONE RING TO RULE THE STRATOSPHERE: This week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus are in New Zealand launching cosmic ray balloons over Earth's 8th continent. To pay for the helium, they launched a ring of power to the stratosphere. Here it is floating 33 km above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have one for $119.95. The students are selling these rings as a fundraiser for their trip. They are made of golden-colored tungsten and inscribed with the authentic Mordor script of the One Ring.
Buy one now, and we will fly it again for you over Hobbiton, located in the North Island of New Zealand where our cosmic ray balloons will be released. Just note "Please fly it again!" in the comments section at checkout.
Each golden ring comes with a greeting card showing the ring 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