A NEW HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: A new hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind toward Earth. Estimated time of arrival: Oct. 30-31. Arctic sky watchers may get a treat for Halloween: Aurora Boo-realis. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR WIND SPARKS AURORAS OVER THE USA: For the 3rd day in a row, a fast-moving stream of solar wind is blowing around Earth. This is causing minor geomagnetic storms and auroras as far south as the US-Canadian border. Last night in Michigan, a green ribbon rippled over Copper Harbor:
"Beautiful auroras lit up the skies around 5 a.m. EST on the shores of Lake Superior," says photographer MaryBeth Kiczenski. "What started out as a slow night ramped up into a gorgeous display."
Since the solar wind arrived on Oct. 24th, auroras have appeared over several US states. In addition to Michigan there is Montana, Washington, Minnesota--and, of course, Alaska. These sightings show that auroras may be seen at mid-latitudes even during Solar Minimum.
Earth is expected to remain inside this stream for another 24 hours. More auroras over the continental USA are unlikely on Oct. 28th, because the solar wind speed is beginning to ebb, but Arctic lights are definitely in the offing. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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SMOKEY PANCAKE SUNSET: Yesterday, nature photographer Mila Zinkova watched the sun set from San Francisco, and it reminded her of breakfast. "The setting sun looked like a stack of pancakes," she says. This image is a still frame from a remarkable video:
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains what happened: "Sunsets like Mila’s need a very strong temperature inversion where cold air is sandwiched between warmer air layers.The layers then act like a wave guide, ducting the sun's rays in layers. Short ducts give three pancake-like mirages. Very long ducts give the rare Novaya Zemlya effect with a whole shimmering stack of narrow stripes."
The colors of the sunset come from smokey wildfires currently raging through northern California. "There is so much smoke in San Francisco right now, I felt sure that images of the miraged sun would not be able to penetrate that smoky darkness of the duct just above the horizon," says Zinkova. "However, the sun won. It was like a miracle, a sign of hope that the fire will retreat."
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THE SUNFLOWER SPACE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the sunflower space pendant. On Oct. 18, 2019, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray balloon to the stratosphere. This cheerful pendant went along for the ride, 109,923 feet high:
You can have it for $109.92 (its altitude divided by 1000). The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each rose gold-plated pendant comes with a greeting card showing the flower in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again. They make great birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts.
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