A COMET FLIRTS WITH DANGER: Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is plunging toward the sun and could soon become a naked-eye object. The question is, can it survive the sun's blistering heat? We might find out as early as next week when the comet enters the field of view of SOHO coronagraphs. FULL STORY.
AN OUTBREAK OF NOCTILICENT CLOUDS OVER EUROPE: Night is supposed to be dark. But not last night. Across northern and central Europe on June 16-17, the sky lit up with electric-blue ripples from noctilucent (night-shining) clouds. "It was a very bright display," reports Arnim Berhorst, who sends this picture from Bergen, Norway:
"The noctilucent clouds (NLCs) were so widespread, I had to assemble 12 images to capture the complete panorama," says Berhorst. Similar displays were recorded as far south as Germany, Poland, and Switzerland.
NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space 83 km above the ground. The clouds form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke.
Last summer, NLCs spread as far south as Los Angeles and Las Vegas, setting records for low-latitude sightings. 2020 is shaping up to be just as good. Record-cold temperatures in the mesosphere are boosting the production of NLCs, pushing them farther south with each passing night. Stay tuned!
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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FAR-OUT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS: In the ocean, most jellyfish are no more than a few centimeters long. In Earth's upper atmosphere, jellyfish are a million times bigger. Jellyfish sprites, that is. Martin Popek photographed these specimens over Nýdek, Czech republic, on June 12th:
"There was a mesoscale convective thunderstorm over Slovakia, about 250 km away from me," says Popek. "I pointed my camera in that direction and caught these sprites leaping up over the Tatras mountains."
Sprites are an exotic form of upward-directed lightning. They come in many shapes. These are named "jellyfish" because of their resemblance to the sea creature. Considering Popek's distance from the storm, the sprites must have been about 50 km tall to fill the frame of his camera. The tentacles alone are longer than the island of Manhattan!
"I made several videos of these sprites," says Popek. Watch and enjoy: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6.
Realtime Sprite Photo Gallery
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FAR-OUT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS: What do you get for the dad who has everything? Something from the edge of space! Father's Day is this Sunday and everything in the Earth to Sky Store is 10% off:
Almost every week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a helium balloon to the stratosphere to measure cosmic radiation. Items in the Earth to Sky Store went along for the ride, accompanying radiation sensors to the edge of space. All sales support the students' ballooning program. Dad-satisfaction guarenteed!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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