AURORAS LOVE EQUINOXES: The northern vernal equinox is only one week away. That's good news for Arctic sky watchers because auroras love equinoxes. Researchers call it the "Russell-McPherron effect." At this time of year, cracks form in Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar wind to enter. Even a weak stream of solar wind can spark a good display around the poles. Happy Spring! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

SPACESHIPS OVERHEAD: This morning, not long before sunrise, the International Space Station (ISS) flew directly over Manorville, NY, traveling 17,100 mph.  Philip Smith was waiting with his 14-inch telescope. "I not only captured the ISS but also SpaceX's Dragon CRS-20 cargo ship docked alongside," says Smith.

Smith's startlingly-clear photo shows the Dragon's solar panels and even its core, which is only 6.1 meters high--an impressive piece of astrophotography.

The Dragon was launched from Cape Canaveral on March 7th, and reached the ISS two days later. Astronaut Jessica Meir used the space station's robotic arm to grapple the cargo vessel into docking position. The ISS crew is now unloading almost 5000 pounds of supplies. The Dragon will remain attached to the ISS for about a month, then come back down to Earth for an ocean splashdown in early April.

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SUNSET MIRAGE: This week, Mila Zinkova looked out over the ocean and saw a familiar sight: The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Which is strange. Because she was standing almost 7000 miles away in San Francisco, California. "It was a mirage!" says Zinkova. Scroll past her photo for an explanation:

"This is actually the Farallon Islands lighthouse west of San Francisco," says Zinkova. "It was shape-shifted by the Fata Morgana."

Fata Morgana is a type of sunset mirage produced by strong temperature inversions. A layer of unusually cold air hanging just above the sea surface is key. Light passing through this layer can be distorted and stretched in fantastical ways, causing ghost ships to float in midair, turning the full Moon into a rectangular block, and raising false walls of water.

In this case, the mirage turned a California lighthouse into a Brazilian statue. "That's not all," says Zinkova. "Evidently Fata Morgana was not satisfied with this design because she kept changing it all the time as shown in this video. Then, a second sun exploded in the same atmospheric duct. At one point it was rectangular."

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A BLACK PEARL IN THE STRATOSPHERE: It came from Tahiti--and now it's been to the edge of space. On Feb. 27, 2020, this genuine Black Tahitian South Sea Cultured Pearl flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, soaring more than 100,000 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:

You can have it for $219.95. The students are selling these exotic space pearls to fund their cosmic ray monitoring program. Measuring 10 mm in diameter, the pearl has an 18K white gold clasp and is suspended from a matching 925 Sterling Silver chain. Each pearl comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.

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