THE NEXT SOLAR WIND STREAM: Earth is exiting one stream of solar wind. Another one is on the way. Estimated time of arrival: Aug. 10th. The incoming stream is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras mixed with Perseid meteors later this week. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

THESE LIGHTS ARE NOT AURORAS: Around the world on August 5th, high-latitude sky watchers watched the sky turn red and green as a solar wind stream lashed Earth's magnetic field. Ruslan Merzlyakov of Møn, Denmark, saw these colors as well. But the strange thing was, it was three days earlier and the geomagnetic storm hadn't started yet:

"On August 2nd, I went out to take some pictures of the Milky Way," says Merzlyakov. "When I took the first test-shot, I was amazed by the brightness and amount of the airglow in the sky - it was both red and green. I can definitely say, I have never captured such bright green airglow!"

That's right, these lights are not auroras. They're airglow.

Although airglow looks like the aurora borealis, it is not. Auroras are caused by gusts of solar wind. Airglow is caused by chemi-luminescent reactions in Earth's 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. They are typically very faint and best captured on dark nights around the New Moon.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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A FAR OUT GIFT: Nothing says "I Love You" like a heart-shaped pendant from the edge of space. Last week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew an array of cosmic ray sensors to the stratosphere onboard a giant helium balloon. This purple heart went along for the ride:

You can have it for $129.95. The students are selling these pendants as a fund-raiser for their cosmic ray monitoring program. They make great anniversary, birthday and Christmas gifts. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.

You can have it for $119.95. The students are selling the Falcon to fund the Earth to Sky ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the Falcon in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Also included: an LED-illuminated stand. This creates a colorful visual effect and allows the Falcon to be used as a far-out night light.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education