NOCTILUCENT CLOUD FORECAST: Right now, noctilucent clouds around the Arctic Circle are being controlled by a 5-day planetary wave. This makes it possible, for the first time, to issue a noctilucent cloud forecast. Sky watchers in northern European countries should be alert for NLCs at sunset on June 2nd and 3rd--that is, ~5 days after the last bright European display on May 28th and 29th.
A WILD DISPLAY OF AIRGLOW: Last week on May 30th, MaryBeth Kiczenski of Munising, Michigan, drove to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in search of auroras. A stream of solar wind was buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and Northern Lights were a definite possibility. Instead of auroras, however, "I saw some pretty wild airglow!" she says.
"I was in awe over how surreal it looked!!" says Kiczenski.
Although airglow looks like the aurora borealis, it is not. Auroras are caused by gusts of solar wind. Airglow is caused by a complex assortment of chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere. These reactions get started during daylight hours when the atmosphere is bathed in strong UV radiation from the sun. At night we see the afterglow, colored green by oxygen atoms 90-100 km high or sometimes red by hydroxyl ions 86-87 km high.
Kiczenski saw both--red and green. Gravity waves propagating upward from the lower atmosphere impressed the colorful lights with a dramatic rippling structure. Browse the airglow gallery for more examples.
Realtime Airglow Cloud Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
FLAMING WALL OF PLASMA: If you have a solar telescope, point it at the northwestern limb of the sun. A giant flame-shaped wall of plasma is flickering against the black of space. Martin Wise of Trenton, Florida, photographed the structure on June 2nd:
"It's not as grand as it was two days ago," notes Wise, "but it is still large and bright."
How large is it? The tip of the "flame" is twice as tall as the entire planet Earth--dimensions that make it an easy target for safely-filtered backyard optics.
Contrary to appearances, this prominence is not on fire. Unlike the wick of a burning candle, where oxygen is combined with hydrocarbons to produce light and heat, no combustion takes place inside a solar prominence. Hydrogen-filled prominences glow simply because they are hot (like a stovetop glows red when it gets very hot) and they flicker because their inner magnetic fields are not quite stable.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
A GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: 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
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter