CAVEAT IMPACTOR--'ELECTION DAY ASTEROID' IS NO THREAT: Many news sources are reporting the approach of asteroid 2018 VP1, which might hit Earth on Nov. 2nd. According to NASA, there is a significant 0.4% chance of impact. There's no need to fear, however, because this asteroid is really small--only about 2 meters in diameter. Even if the space rock does hit Earth, the vast majority of its mass will disintegrate harmlessly high in the atmosphere, producing a beautiful fireball, not Armageddon.
GIGANTIC JETS OVER TROPICAL STORM LAURA: This weekend, Tropical Storm Laura passed by Puerto Rico. Just as it was bearing down on the island, the intensifying storm fired off two Gigantic Jets. Frankie Lucena video recorded the tree-shaped bolts using a low-light camera in the coastal town Cabo Rojo:
Gigantic Jets are related to sprites, only much bigger. They fly out of the tops of some thunderstorms and can reach all the way to the edge of space. That's why some people call them "space lightning." They are a sign of intense electrical activity in the storm below.
"This appears to be a rare Type II Gigantic Jet event," says Lucena. Gigantic Jets come in three types. Type II events start out as Blue Jets, then transform into Gigantic Jets. The metamorphosis is not well understood. "Out of the more than 40 Gigantic Jets I've captured over the years in the Caribbean, only three of them might be Type IIs"--so very rare indeed.
Above: The red arrow points from Lucena's camera to the Gigantic Jets
In addition to Gigantic Jets, Lucena also captured sprites and ELVEs dancing above the tropical storm. Watch his complete video here.
Tropical Storm Laura is now passing Cuba en route to the southeastern USA. Photographers there may wish to train their cameras above Laura's cloudtops--because not all lightning goes down.
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THE INFINITY BLACK PEARL: It came from Tahiti--and now it's been to the edge of space. On April 15, 2020, this genuine Black Tahitian South Sea Cultured Pearl flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, soaring 107,611 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $249.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling these exotic space pearls to fund their cosmic ray monitoring program.
Measuring 9 mm in diameter, the pearl is mounted on a 925 sterling silver infinity twist and suspended on a matching 17 inch long 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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