MINOR GEOMAGNETIC UNREST TODAY: A minor solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field on April 9th, and this is causing geomagnetic unrest just below the level of a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras mixed with waxing Spring twilight. Aurora alerts: SMS text, email.
AURORAS VS. TWILIGHT: Around the Arctic Circle, aurora season is coming to an end. It's not that auroras are vanishing. Instead, the summer sun is approaching. "Arctic Summer is on its way," reports Chad Blakley of Lights over Lapland, "but we still have around four hours of darkness every night." On April 9th he photographed green auroras mixing with blue twilight:
"Northern Lights are taking full advantage of every second that the sun is below the horizon," says Blakley. "Last night the show started at around 10:00 PM and ended when the Sun returned at around 2:00 AM. I wonder, how many more nights will we enjoy auroras here in Abisko, Sweden?"
Answer: A few more days, at least. Solar wind flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere is expected to brush Earth's magnetic field on April 10th and 11th, painting northern twilight with a dash of green in the nights ahead. Aurora alerts: SMS text, email.
BIG, CRACKLING SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR2738 is crackling with minor B-class solar flares. Minor? On the sun, it's all relative. A typical B-class solar flare releases as much energy as 100 million WWII atomic bombs. Yesterday, Martin Wise of Trenton, Florida, caught the sunspot in mid-flare:
Only on the sun, which is itself a 1027 ton self-contained nuclear explosion, would such a blast be considered puny.
"Watching sunspot AR2738 and its B-class flares was like watching creation," says Wise, who also made an animation of the blast. "I used a Daystar Quark solar filter to safely take these pictures through my 8-inch Celestron telescope."
More "minor" flares are in the offing as the sunspot turns to face Earth. Stay tuned! Solar flare alerts: SMS text, email.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
A MOTHER'S DAY GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Mother's Day is barely a month away. Nothing says "I love you" like a rose quartz heart from the edge of space. On Jan. 26, 2019, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this pendant 101,908 feet above the snow-capped Sierras of central California:
You can have it for $119.95. The students are selling the pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the rose-colored heart in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. All sales support Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray measurements and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery