THREE DAYS FROM ULTIMA THULE: NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is closing in on Ultima Thule, a mysterious object 4 billion miles from Earth. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, New Horizons will swoop three times closer to Ultima Thule than it flew past Pluto in 2015. "The anticipation is palpable now: we are on the verge of an important scientific exploration almost 20 years in the making and, in many ways, unlike any other ever attempted," says the mission's principal investigator Alan Stern. Stay tuned for live coverage despite the US government shutdown.
SPOTLESS SUN SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: The sun has been without spots every day for almost two weeks. No sunspots? No problem: A G1-class geomagnetic storm erupted last night, sparking bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Longtime Northern Lights photographer Sacha Layos says she was "giddy" when she saw this display over Fairbanks, Alaska:
"I've seen the lights hundreds of times, but I still do a little dance and get that feeling when they are extra special like this," she says.
Similar displays were reported over Iceland ("the best auroras of the season," says Jónína Óskarsdóttir) and Canada ("STEVE made an appearance as well," reports Harlan Thomas).
This storm was caused not by sunspots, which have been absent for most of 2018, but rather by a hole in the sun's atmosphere. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the gaseous fissure on Dec. 24th:
Solar wind flowing from the hole hit Earth's magnetic field during the early hours of Dec. 28th, instigating the storm. Such holes (called "coronal holes") are a primary source of space weather when sunspots are absent. During Solar Minimum, coronal holes open up and may remain open for months, periodically lashing Earth with solar wind as the sun spins on its axis.
More Solar Minimum auroras are in the offing. NOAA forecasters expect Earth to remain inside this stream of solar wind for another 24 to 48 hours, punctuating 2018 with a splash of Northern Lights. Free: Aurora Alerts.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education