GET READY FOR THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY:One of the biggest astronomy events of the year is only days away. On Monday, Nov 11th, Mercury will pass directly in front the sun. The rare transit begins at 12:35 UT (7:35 am EST) and lasts for almost six hours. Get ready: full story, video, photo gallery.
SOLAR WIND, INCOMING: A new hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the jagged chasm on Nov. 6th:
Gaseous material flowing from this hole is expected to arrive on Nov. 11th or possibly during the late hours of Nov. 10th. Geomagnetic storms are *not* expected when the solar wind reaches Earth, because it is probably a weak stream. Nevertheless, Arctic sky watchers should be alert for extra-bright auroras on Sunday and Monday nights. Aurora Alerts: SMS Text.
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THE HELMET OF LOKI: In Norse mythology, Loki was a cunning trickster, able to change his shape into illusory forms. He must have been related to Lady Aurora. On Nov. 6th, tour guide Marianne Bergli was in northern Norway, the home of Loki, and saw his helmet in the sky:
"Sometimes words alone cannot describe what the naked eye sees in the skies over Tromso," says Bergli. "In addition to Loki's Helmet, we saw many forms that have no names at all--but they were equally wonderful."
For the record, the helmet shape is not as tricky as it seems. Auroras glow in places where electrons rain down from space. Incoming streams of charged particles are modulated by electromagnetic waves high above Earth, and sculpted by the shape of Earth's magnetic field. The helmet shape appears to be a mash-up of a ring current and two particle streams following magnetic field lines connecting Tromso to space.
So words can describe it. Doing it justice is something else...
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THE STRATOSPHERIC CLOUD PENDANT: The most beautiful clouds on Earth are located in the stratosphere: Polar Stratospheric Clouds. Their extraordinary colors inspired this authentic Swarovski pendant--and it has been to the stratosphere! On Nov. 2, 2019, it hitched a ride 109,580 feet high on board an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon:
You can have it for $159.95. The students are selling Stratospheric Cloud Pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each heart-shaped pendant comes with a card showing it floating through the stratosphere like a real cloud, and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
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