THE SOLAR WIND IS HERE: Earth's polar magnetic field is unsettled today, Feb. 14th, as our planet passes through a stream of solar wind blowing faster than 500 km/s. The gaseous material is coming from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora Alerts: SMS text, email.
BIG ACTIVITY ON THE SUN: A gigantic filament of plasma is dancing along the northwestern edge of the sun, rising more than 150,000 km above the solar surface. How large is that? It's fully 1/10th of the sun's diameter and almost a dozen times taller than our entire planet. Click to view a 2-day movie from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory:
This is called a "hedgerow prominence." Hot glowing plasma inside the structure is held aloft by unstable magnetic fields. If the magnetic support collapses, plasma can fall back to the solar surface, exploding in a Hyder flare--a type of solar flare that can occur with no underlying sunspot.
NASA and Japanese space telescopes have taken high resolution images of similar prominences and seen some amazing things such as (1) tadpole-shaped plumes that float up from the base of the prominence; (2) narrow streams of plasma that descend from the top like waterfalls; and (3) swirls and vortices that resemble van Gogh's Starry Night.
Got a solar telescope? Take a look!
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
AURORAS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY: After the sun went down on Feb. 13th, Alexander Kuznetsov of Finland knew that auroras were in the offing. Earth was entering a stream of solar wind, and it was only a matter of time before the Arctic sky turned green. Just one problem: clouds!
"I drove all the way to Paatsjoki just 1 km from the Russian border," he says. "This was the only place that had clear skies in the whole region. As soon as I got to the spot, the sky exploded."
"The auroras were moving pretty fast and even the light of almost full moon did not disturb them. The show lasted over half and hour, and even flashed a little bit of pink towards the end," he says. "It was an amazing way to welcome Valentine's Day!"
VALENTINE'S GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: It's Valentine's Day! And if you're still shopping for a gift online, you're late. Only something far-out will do. The Earth to Sky Store has what you need, and everything is 10% off:
All items in the store have been flown to the stratosphere onboard cosmic ray balloons, which the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch approximately once a week to monitor atmospheric radiation. Sales support our cosmic ray ballooning program and help launch young scientists into research careers through hands-on STEM education.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education