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. 12, 13.
SOUTHERN LIGHTS: This week's G2-class geomagnetic storm lit up both of Earth's poles--north and south. Minoru Yoneto witnessed the Southern Lights from Queenstown, New Zealand:
"I took this picture during my stargazing tour on Sept. 11th, catching one of my customers along with red auroras, the Southern Cross, the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way," says Yoneto. "What a night!"
The auroras appeared after a solar wind stream hit Earth on Sept. 10th. The impact rocked our planet's magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms that lasted for more than 12 hours. Another solar wind stream is on the way, and it could cause similar displays when it arrives on Sept. 16th or 17th. Stay tuned for updates. Free: Aurora Alerts.
NOT EVERYTHING GREEN IS AN AURORA: This week, many northern watchers saw their skies turn green as a geomagnetic storm ignited bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Giuseppe Petricca was one of them--but the green he saw from northern Scotland was not the aurora borealis. "The geomagnetic storm was over when I took this picture on Sept. 12th," says Petricca. "It was airglow."
"Greenish waves that slowly covered the entire sky," he says. "It was my first time ever in observing this fantastic atmospheric phenomenon!"
Although airglow looks like the aurora borealis, it is not. Airglow is caused by chemi-luminescent reactions in Earth's upper atmosphere. These reactions get started during daylight hours when the atmosphere is bathed in strong UV radiation from the sun. At night we see the afterglow, colored green by oxygen atoms 90-100 km high.
Airglow is best seen on moonless nights far from city lights--exactly the situation for Petricca on Sept. 12th. "It was an unforgettable night in the Outer Hebrides!" he says.
Realtime Airglow Photo Gallery
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