THE CHILL OF SOLAR MINIMUM: The sun is entering a deep Solar Minimum, and Earth's upper atmosphere is responding. Data from NASA's TIMED satellite show that the thermosphere (the uppermost layer of air around our planet) is cooling and shrinking, literally decreasing the radius of the atmosphere. If current trends continue, the thermosphere could set a Space Age record for cold in the months ahead: full story.
A DOUBLE STREAM OF SOLAR WIND: Two holes in the sun's atmosphere are turning to face Earth, each spewing a stream of solar wind toward our planet. Estimated times of arrival: Oct. 4th and Oct 7th. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory took this false-color UV picture of the gaseous firehoses on Oct. 1st:
These are "coronal holes"--places in the sun's atmosphere where magnetic fields open up and allow solar wind to escape. They are dark because the glowing-hot plasma normally contained there is missing, now en route to Earth.
Solar wind spewing from the smaller hole (right) will arrive first, causing polar geomagnetic unrest but probably not a full-fledged geomagnetic storm. Solar wind escaping from the second, larger hole (left) will follow days later bringing a chance of G1-class storms. In both cases, equinox cracks in Earth's magnetic field will permit the solar wind to spark Arctic auroras. Free: Aurora Alerts.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
WHERE NO CRYSTAL 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