PINK AND GREEN AURORAS: A minor stream of solar wind is gently buffeting Earth's magnetic field today. Its effect is not strong enough to cause a full-fledged geomagnetic storm. Nevertheless, bright pink and green auroras are flickering in Arctic skies. The light show could soon intensify if today's solar flare hurled a CME toward Earth. Read on! Aurora Alerts: SMS text, email.
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE (UPDATED): This morning, March 8th at 0319 UT, the magnetic field of sunspot AR2734 became unstable and exploded. The result was a C1-class solar flare aimed directly at Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the slowly unfolding explosion:
Play the movie again. In it you can see a shadowy shock wave billowing away from the blast site like a ripple in a giant pond. This is a sign that the blast may have hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space, possibly toward Earth. Radio emissions from the shock wave suggest an expansion velocity of more than 600 km/s (1.3 million mph).
UPDATE: SOHO coronagraphs confirm that a faint CME left the sun--but is it heading toward Earth? NOAA analysts are currently modeling the storm cloud's trajectory to see if there is an Earth-directed component. Check back later for their results.
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CRYSTAL STARSHIP ENTERPRISE: 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
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