CO-ROTATING INTERACTION REGION: NOAA forecasters say that a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) might hit Earth's magnetic field on Dec. 28th. CIRs are transition zones between fast- and slow-moving streams of solar wind. They often contain plasma shocks and strong magnetic fields that do a good job sparking auroras. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible when the CIR arrives. Free: Aurora Alerts.
POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS: The stratosphere above the Arctic Circle is getting cold ... very cold. That's the only way to explain these clouds, which appeared over Östersund, Sweden, on Christmas Day:
"Yesterday, I saw my first polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) for this season," reports photographer Göran Strand. "In the video you can see the colorful PSCs hanging high above the normal clouds drifting by on this windy winter afternoon."
Normally, the stratosphere is free of clouds--completely transparent. That's because the stratosphere is very dry with a wide separation between sparse molecules of water. When the temperature drops to around -85ºC, however, those sparse molecules begin to reluctantly gather, forming crystals of ice that become polar stratospheric clouds.
Once thought to be mere curiosities, some PSCs are now known to be associated with the destruction of ozone. Indeed, an ozone hole formed over the UK in Feb. 2016 following an outbreak of ozone-destroying Type 1 PSCs.
In addition to Strand's sighting in Sweden, the clouds were also observed in the Netherlands by veteran sky watcher Peter Paul Hattinga Verschure (image) and meteorologist Jacob Kuiper (image). "As far as I know this is only the third case of Type I PSCs that has been observed over the Netherlands in the last 35 years," notes Kuiper.
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BUY A TICKET TO THE EDGE OF SPACE: Extended by popular demand! For the holiday season only, we're reducing the cost of payload space on Earth to Sky Calculus balloons from $500 to only $299. Buy an edge of space gift certificate before New Year's Eve and you can send an experiment, photo, or keepsake item to the stratosphere, completely supported by an Earth to Sky Calculus launch and recovery team.
This is not only a great belated Christmas gift, but also a good kickstarter for science fair projects. Experiments will be flown and returned along with video footage, GPS tracking, temperature, pressure, altimetry and radiation data.
To take advantage of the discounted rate, payment must be received before Dec. 25th. However, the flight can take place at any time in the next 12 months. You'll receive the ticket electronically so you can print it out and give it as a Christmas Day gift.
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