GROWING SUNSPOT: New-cycle sunspot AR2776 has quadrupled in size since it first appeared on Oct. 14th. It is not yet large enough to pose a threat for strong solar flares, but it is a good target for backyard solar telescopes. Point your filtered optics here. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
EPIC RED AIRGLOW: It looks like auroras, but it's not. On Oct. 12th, photographer Ruslan Merzlyakov went to Thy National Park Thy in northern Denmark for a good view of the Milky Way. This is what he saw instead:
"To my surprise, this epic red airglow rippled across the entire sky," says Merzlyakov.
Airglow is caused by chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere. These reactions get started during daylight hours when the atmosphere is bathed in strong UV radiation from the sun. On very dark nights, we can sometimes see the afterglow, colored green by oxygen atoms 90-100 km high or, in this case, red by hydroxyl (OH) molecules 86-87 km high.
Airglow is often modulated by dramatic ripples, such as the ones in Merzlyakov's photo. These are gravity waves from powerful thunderstorms propagating upward and crashing in the airglow layer.
Some readers will naturally wonder if this apparition of red airglow is related to an outbreak of red auroras on the same night in Finland. There is probably no connection. Red airglow is caused by chemical reactions involving OH molecules in a thin layer of atmosphere 86-87 km high. Red auroras are caused by solar wind exciting oxygen atoms in a broad layer of atmosphere 150-500 km high. Apples and oranges! Albeit, in this case, both red.
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A BLACK PEARL IN THE STRATOSPHERE: It came from Tahiti--and now it's been to the edge of space. On Feb. 27, 2020, this genuine Black Tahitian South Sea Cultured Pearl flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, soaring more than 100,000 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $229.95. The students are selling these exotic space pearls to fund their cosmic ray monitoring program. Measuring 10 mm in diameter, the pearl has an 18K white gold clasp and is suspended from a matching 925 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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