C-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Today at 13:22 UT, big sunspot AR2733 produced a C5-class solar flare: image. C-class flares are not major explosions. However, this is the strongest solar flare in nearly a year, and it breaks the quiet of a deep Solar Minimum. More activity is possible in the hours and days ahead as the sunspot continues to grow and develop. Stay tuned. Free: SWx News
AURORAS DANCE OVER THE ISLAND OF POLAR BEARS: Last night, the sky above Svalbard, Norway, filled with auroras. Purple and green sheets of light swirled over the snowy landscape at 8 AM local time--still dark because the sun will not rise for another 3 weeks. Sophie Cordon photographed the display:
Svalbard is also known as "the island of polar bears." The bear population in the Svalbard archipelago and Barents Sea actually exceeds the human population. So the audience for the geomagnetic storm was primarily ursine. Most of the humans in the area are concentrated in Longyearbyen, a small town in Svalbard where Cordon took the picture.
The display was sparked by a stream of fast-moving solar wind that engulfed our planet for two days beginning on Jan. 23rd. Earth is exiting the stream now, but another is on the way. A hole in the sun's atmosphere is spewing solar wind in our direction. Estimated time of arrival: Jan. 30th. The island of polar bears is about to get another light show. Aurora Alerts: SMS text, email.
FAR OUT VALENTINE'S GIFT: Valentine's Day is only 3 weeks away. Need a far-out gift? Consider the Valentine's Space Rose. This one flew 104,843 feet above the snow-capped Sierras of California on Jan. 19th:
You can have it for $149.95. The rose is laser-etched into a block of optical-quality borosilicate crystal with the words "I Love You" curving below the stem. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling these to support their cosmic ray ballooning program.
Each rose 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 an LED stand that fills the bloom with 4 luminous colors.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
LUNAR PARHELIC CIRCLE: A parhelic circle is an unforgettable sight. Thin and pale, it circles the zenith in a majestic arc, always keeping the same distance above the horizon--crossing directly through the sun. On Jan. 24th, Sheila Wiwchar of Kaleida, Canada, saw a parhelic circle but, strangely, the sun was nowhere around. This parhelic circle was passing through the Moon:
It was quite a sight," she says. "The circle filled the entire night sky! I set up a timelapse wondering if it would last, and it did." Her 3-hour video of the phenomenon is a must-see.
Parhelic circles are normally caused by sunlight reflecting from the vertical faces of ice crystals--millions of them floating in thin cirrus clouds spread almost evenly across the wide blue sky. In this case, bright moonlight performed the same trick. As Les Cowley notes in his authoritative web page on the subject, "the parhelic circle appears simple yet more ray paths contribute to it than in any other halo. Some are very intricate."
Note: Because this circle is caused by moonlight rather than sunlight, it is correctly called a "parselenic circle."
Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery