GEOMAGNETIC STORM PREDICTED: NOAA forecasters say there is a 45% chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on Nov. 3rd when a stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. During G1-class geomagnetic storms, auroras can descend as far south as a line from Maine to Washington in the USA. Free: Aurora Alerts.
HALLOWEEN SPRITES: In folklore, sprites are supernatural entities often depicted as fairy-like or ethereal. The word itself comes from the Latin "spiritus" (spirit), via the French "esprit." With such etymology, can it be any surprise that sprites were sighted on Halloween dancing above southern France? Roger Spinner photographed four of them:
"They were fast and elusive, but I managed to capture them by running my camera (a Sony A7s) in video mode at 2160p and 30 frames per second," he says.
The forms Spinner witnessed were ethereal, but not supernatural. Sprites are an exotic form of lightning that shoot up from the tops of thunderstorms. Although such sprites have been seen and reported for centuries, many people did not believe they existed until researchers from the University of Minnesota finally captured them on film in 1989. Now we know -- sprites are real, and they're made of electricity.
When it comes to observing sprites, distance helps. "I was in Montsevelier, Switzerland, watching these sprites emerge from an electrical storm nearly 450 km away in France," explains Spinner. This map shows where he was with respect to the lightning. By being so far away, his camera was able to see over the top of the distant storm. "What a Halloween treat!" he says.
BEAM ME UP ... TO THE STRATOSPHERE: Last month, 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
REMEMBERING THE HALLOWEEN STORM: Halloween brings special memories to longtime aurora photographer Dave Parkhurst of Alaska. "15 years ago last night and tonight, huge aurora storms covered the Earth!" he recalls. "The skies above Alaska were particularly stunning."
Halloween 2003 was a milestone in modern space weather. From Oct. 19th through Nov. 7th 2003, there were 17 major eruptions on the sun, including a record-setting X28 flare. One after another, CMEs (coronal mass ejections) slammed into Earth's magnetosphere, causing geomagnetic storms and Northern lights seen as far south as Florida and Texas. On Halloween itself, many trick or treaters witnessed blood-red auroras--very spooky indeed.
Parkhurst recalls the geomagnetic indices going wild. "A-indices powered up to 199 and K-indices were in the range 7 to 9 for a 48 hour period," he says. "We haven't seen anything like it since."
"This next Solar Cycle 25 will be my 5th cycle since I started photographing auroral displays in 1980. A majority of aurora chasers today are relatively new to the game, including newly booming high latitude 'Aurora Tours' that help people fulfill their bucket lists. They have yet to experience a really powerful Solar Maximum. When Solar Cycle 25 finally decides to ramp up in a year or two hopefully there will be some huge storms to thrill and put things into perspective regarding the scary power of the sun."