INTERPLANETARY SHOCK WAVE HITS EARTH: A minor interplanetary shock wave hit Earth on May 26th at approximately 22:00 UT. The CME-like disturbance was unexpected. It caused the density of the solar wind around Earth to abruptly quadruple, while the interplanetary magnetic field doubled in strength. Minor geomagnetic storms are possible on May 27th as our planet passes through the shock wave's wake. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
ELECTRIC-BLUE CLOUDS AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: Noctilucent clouds are rapidly spreading around the Arctic Circle. First sighted by NASA's AIM spacecraft on May 20th, small wisps of electric blue have since multiplied in areal coverage by a factor of 50. This 5-day movie from AIM's CIPS instrument shows their development:
NLCs are Earth's highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space more than 80 km above the planet's surface. The clouds are very cold and filled with tiny ice crystals. When sunbeams hit those crystals, they glow electric-blue.
Previous data from AIM have shown that NLCs are like a great "geophysical light bulb." They turn on every year in late spring, reaching almost full intensity over a period of 10 days. This is happening now, and observers on the ground should soon begin to see them.
Early-season NLCs are always found at high-latitudes--e.g., Canada, the British isles, Siberia and Scandinavia. To people in those areas, we offer the following observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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FAR-OUT FATHER'S DAY GIFT: Father's Day is less than 3 weeks away. What do you give the dad who has everything? He probably doesn't have this. On May 25th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew Baby Groot to the stratosphere:
You can have it for $99.95. The students are selling these figurines to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Groot's head is hollow, so dad can use it to hold pens, tools, flowers or whatever. Each arboreal superhero comes with a greeting card showing Groot in flight and telling the story of his journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Dad-satisfaction guaranteed!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education