NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: A 5-day planetary wave is supercharging noctilucent clouds (NLCs) over Antarctica, making it possible to see the clouds from faraway locations such as New Zealand. Southern hemisphere NLCs are seldom seen outside Antarctica, so this is a rare event. Sky watchers in south island of New Zealand, Tasmania, southern Chile/Argentina and the Falkland Islands should be alert for an electric-blue glow on the western horizon after sunset: Full story.
A RED FLASH FROM THE MOON: You've heard of the green flash--an emerald ray that sometimes lances out from the sun or Moon when they are about to sink below the horizon. Now let us introduce you to the RED flash. Peter Lawrence of Thornton, England, saw one beneath the setting Moon on Dec. 1st:
"As the crescent Moon set it turned vividly orange in colour," says Lawrence. "Then the lower red edge of the Moon appeared to detach from the main body, producing a rare lunar 'red flash'."
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains what happened: "The technical name of this event is a 'Ducted Mock-mirage Red Flash.' As the Moon set, it dipped into a strong temperature inversion layer with warm air above cooler air. Light rays bend when they cross the layers, in this case strongly enough that 'ducting' occurs -- that is, the rays bounce up and down, trapped in an optical duct. This is the stuff of mirages and strong color separation."
"Usually we see a green flash as the sun or Moon’s top dips down into the inversion," Cowley continues. "Here, Peter Lawrence caught the red flash at the Moon's lower edge. Solar red flashes occur, too, but they are hard to see because they are almost the same color as the sun."
Lawrence created a short movie of the red flash. "Look carefully and you can see some of the bright craters also show green flashes!" points out Cowley.
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STERLING SILVER "FOREVER IN MY HEART" PENDANT: Sterling Silver + Space = an out of this world Christmas gift. On Nov. 18, 2019, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray balloon to the stratosphere. This sterling silver sunflower pendant hitched a ride, 111,352 feet high:
You can have it for $169.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Inscribed on the back with "forever in my heart," each 925 stirling silver pendant comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Bonus: The pendant contains a hidden chamber, which you may fill with the ashes of a loved one or anything else you wish to keep close to your heart.
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All sales support hands-on STEM education
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