SOLAR MINIMUM CONDITIONS ARE IN EFFECT: The sun has been blank--without sunspots--for 13 consecutive days. This is a sign that Solar Minimum is underway. The sun is passing through the nadir of the 11-year solar cycle, a slow process that could continue for much of 2020. Stay tuned for quiet. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
EASTER SPRITES: On Easter weekend, a series of severe storms swept across the Southeastern USA, battering the region with powerful thunderstorms and deadly tornadoes. In Edmond, Oklahoma, Paul M. Smith went outside on Easter morning to photograph the distant lightning. He caught these sprites leaping up from a thunderhead in Arkansas:
"The electrical storm had already passed through our area. These sprites were about 200 miles away, across the state line," he says. "After being stuck in the house for weeks, it was nice to be out and smelling the canola blooms."
Sprites are an exotic form of upward directed lightning. They often appear above the strongest thunderstorms, reaching their red tendrils up toward the edge of space. Last weekend's Easter storms likely produced a great number of sprites. Smith was perfectly positioned to photograph them--"I was just far enough away to see over the cloudtops," he explains.
More sprites may be in the offing this weekend. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to roll across the South on Sunday, battering areas still reeling from the Easter Storms. This could activate a new display of upward directed lightning--best seen from far away.
More images of the Easter Sprites may be found on Paul Smith's Facebook page.
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STERLING SILVER "I HEART MOM" SPACE PENDANT: Mother's Day is only a few weeks away. Are you looking for a far-out gift? This 925 sterling silver pendant has been to the edge of space, and you can have it for $139.95.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling Mother's Day pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. This one traveled 108,596 ft above the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains of central California on April 3, 2020. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the necklace in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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