OLD-CYCLE SUNSPOT: Just south of the sun's equator, a sunspot is growing: AR2760. Its magnetic polarity identifies it as a member of old Solar Cycle 24. This is probably one of the last old-cycle sunspots we will see as the sun continues tipping toward Solar Cycle 25. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
METEOR SMOKE IN ACTION: The best meteor during this month's Lyrid meteor shower might not have been a Lyrid at all. On April 21st, Robert Barsa was outside the city of Košice, Slovakia, watching meteors fly out of the constellation Lyra when a flash lit up the sky from a completely different direction.
"I saw it in my peripheral vision," says Barsa. "As I looked reflexively above my head, I was speechless staring at a meteor much brighter than Venus."
"The fireball was moving very slowly with at least two outbursts," he says. "It reminded me of a decaying spaceship or satellite entering the atmosphere."
Barsa's video shows the remarkable behaviour of the meteor's debris twisting in rarefied winds more than 60 km above Earth's surface. "The smoky trail lasted for nearly an hour until it finally disappeared," he says. "Obviously, this was not a member of the Lyrids shower, but such bright 'uninvited guests' are always welcome."
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THE STRANGE EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON RADIO ASTRONOMY: A strange quiet has descended over the shortwave radio spectrum--and the reason might be COVID-19. Amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft noticed the effect from his observatory in rural New Mexico. "The quiet comes partly from Solar Minimum, but I believe it also comes from the relative calm of the COVID-19 lockdown. There is so much less truck, airplane and general machine-generated noise," says Ashcraft.
On April 16th he recorded a radio storm on Jupiter. Aside from the gentle "swoosh" of Jupiter bursts, the recording is almost completely free of normal static:
Above: a Jupiter radio storm. Turn up the volume and listen or take a look at the dynamic spectrum.
The sounds you just heard are caused by natural radio lasers in Jupiter's magnetosphere. Electrical currents flowing between Jupiter's upper atmosphere and the volcanic moon Io can boost these emissions to power levels easily detectable by ham radio antennas on Earth.
Ashcraft has been monitoring natural radio emissions from Jupiter, the sun and meteors for many years--but never quite like now. "This may be a uniquely radio-quiet period in time," he says.
For more information about shortwave radio astronomy, and how you can do it yourself, check out NASA's Radio Jove Project.
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MOTHER'S DAY IS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY! Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love:
Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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