GEOMAGNETIC STORM PREDICTED: NOAA forecasters say there is a chance of minor (G1-class) geomagnetic storms on Jan. 6th when a double CME likely strikes Earth's magnetic field. The impact could spark the first significant Arctic auroras of the New Year. The source of the CMEs is described below. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
TWO EXPLOSIONS ON THE SUN: On Jan. 2, 2021, two dark filaments of magnetism erupted in the sun's southern hemisphere. This movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captures them both; look for the shadowy filaments lifting off at the 06s and 11s marks:
The double eruption hurled a closely-spaced pair of CMEs toward Earth. The first CME was slow-moving, the second was faster. This could cause the two CMEs to pile one on top of the other, intensifying their impact. NOAA forecast models suggest an arrival at Earth on Jan. 6th.
Dark filaments are twisted tubes of magnetism containing solar plasma. They look dark only because the plasma inside is a bit cooler than the underlying sun. In fact, they are quite hot and bright, and would outshine the full Moon if you could hold them up in the night sky.
Above: One of the dark filaments caught in flight as it explodes away from the sun.
Often snaking hundreds of thousands of kilometers through the sun's atmosphere, these sinuous filaments can become unstable and erupt, hurling their contents into space. This is what happened on January 2nd.
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A FAR OUT VALENTINE'S GIFT: Valentine's Day is coming. To get ready for the most romantic day of the year, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a crystal bouquet of roses to the stratosphere on Jan. 1, 2021. Here it is floating on a cosmic ray balloon 102,690 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have them for $99.95. The students are selling space roses to fund their cosmic ray ballooning program. The flowers are made of high-quality Borosilicate Crown Crystal often used in lenses and prisms. That's why they glitter so colorfully in high-altitude sunlight. Each bouquet comes with a greeting card showing the flowers in flight and telling the story of their journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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