EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE IS LEAKING: This week, geomagnetic activity has been low. There are no big holes in the sun's atmosphere nor any streams of high-speed solar wind lashing Earth's magnetic field. Nevertheless, Arctic sky watchers have witnessed some beautiful auroras. Why? Earth's magnetosphere is leaking. At this time of year, "equinox cracks" allow solar wind to penetrate our magnetic defenses, sparking Northern Lights without geomagnetic storms. Browse the aurora photo gallery for examples. Free: Aurora Alerts
JAPANESE SPACECRAFT CHASES ISS: Last night, Monika Landy-Gyebnar set up her camera to record a pass of the International Space Station over Márkó, Hungary. The bright ISS appeared on schedule ... and then another spacecraft appeared right behind it, apparently chasing the space station. Landy-Gyebnar video recorded the pursuit:
"The second ship came 2 minutes after ISS, and their path differed only a little bit so they made an amazing flyby," says Landy-Gyebnar, who also created a star-trailed image of the double overpass.
The chaser was Kounotori 7, a robotic Japanese cargo carrier scheduled to rendezvous with the ISS on Thursday morning, Sept. 27th. Also known as HTV-7, the spacecraft is carrying 6.2 metric tons of supplies including fresh food, water, spare parts and experiments. Almost 2 tons of the cargo are batteries--lithium-ion cells that will replace the space station's aging nickel-hydrogen batteries. Spacewalking astronauts will install the new batteries possibly as early as next week, significantly upgrading the space station's power system.
Another item of note on the Kounotori 7 is an experimental re-entry capsule:
Shaped like a cone with dimensions of 2 feet by 2.7 feet, the capsule can carry items from the ISS back to Earth without a human pilot. Later this year, Japanese mission controllers plan to drop the capsule from the ISS for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Japan. Microgravity protein crystals manufactured onboard the ISS will be placed inside and recovered for analysis.
Visit NASA's ISS blog for updates about the rendevous with Kounotori 7.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
WHERE NO SPACESHIP HAS GONE BEFORE: On Sept. 24, 2018, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the starship Enterprise to the stratosphere. Riding onboard a high-altitude cosmic ray balloon, the laser-etched crystal spaceship traveled 34.7 km (113,845 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $149.95. The students are selling the Enterprise to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each starship comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Also included is a multi-colored LED illuminated stand (shown in the picture above). This creates a colorful visual effect and allows the Enterprise to be used as a far-out night light.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education