SUNSET SKY SHOW: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. The crescent Moon is passing by Venus en route to Jupiter. These bright heavenly bodies will be putting on a sunset sky show for the rest of the week. Don't miss it! Sky maps: Sept. 11, 12, 13.
AURORA ALIEN AND STORM TROOPER: "Yesterday, we had a truly amazing outburst of Northern Lights here in northern Sweden," says Göran Strand. "I did a 180° panorama of the sky to capture the entire display over Handöl. While editing, I tried some different options to present the photo. Suddenly, when I mirrored the photo, I saw something truly out of this world."
"At the top, the clouds and Northern Lights formed a face that looks like an alien, and at the bottom a Storm trooper is clearly visible," says Strand. "Can this really just be a coincidence? "
The strange green forms were sculpted by a G2-class geomagnetic storm, correctly predicted by NOAA forecasters. It began during the late hours of Sept. 10th when a solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field--the gaseous material flowing from a canyon-shaped hole in the sun's atmosphere--and continued for much of Sept. 11th.
The storm is subsiding now. However, Arctic sky watchers can expect bright auroras to continue, intermittently, as the disturbance peters out on Sept. 12th. Free: Aurora Alerts.
FLY ME TO THE MOONSTONE: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from the edge of space. On Jan 27th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this moonstone wrapped in a hand-crafted sterling silver Celtic love knot 35.1 km (115,158 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $179.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. All sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education