EVENING SKY SHOW: Tonight, after the sun goes down, step outside and look south. The nearly full Moon is there, forming a skinny triangle with Saturn and Jupiter. The three brightest objects in the evening sky are putting on a good show. Don't miss it! Sky map.
SOLAR WIND SPARKS ARCTIC AURORAS: Yesterday, for only the 2nd time in 2020, Earth experienced a geomagnetic storm. The G1-class disturbance broke out on Aug. 28th when a stream of solar wind hit Earth's magnetic field at 500 km/s. The effect on Arctic skies was dramatic:
"With the announcement of a minor geomagnetic storm on Spaceweather.com, I immediately got excited about the idea of seeing our first proper Northern Lights of the season," says photographer Rayann Elzein of Utsjoki, Finland. "I found a nice spot on a river bank, and enjoyed some beautiful auroras painting the deep blue sky."
The sun was only 10 degrees below the horizon when the auroras appeared. That means the auroras were competing with twilight for visibility.
"The auroras won!" says Elzein. "After a long summer of midnight suns, the sky is finally getting dark enough for Northern Lights. Aurora season has begun."
For the record: The first geomagnetic storm of 2020 happened on April 20th when a CME hit Earth's magnetic field. The G1-class event sparked bright auroras over Canada and several northern-tier US states. See Spaceweather.com's April 20th archive page for details of the event.
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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STERLING SILVER MOONSTONE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from the edge of space. On Jan 27th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this moonstone wrapped in a hand-crafted sterling silver Celtic love knot 35.1 km (115,158 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $179.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. All sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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