SOLAR SECTOR BOUNDARY CROSSING: Earth is about to cross a fold in the heliospheric current sheet--a vast wavy structure in interplanetary space separating regions of opposite magnetic polarity. The crossing, called a "solar sector boundary crossing," is expected late on Feb. 6th and could trigger geomagnetic activity around Earth's poles. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR SYSTEM GREEN FLASH: Seeing a green flash from the sun is special. Now imagine seeing a green flash from the whole Solar System. "I am pleased to present just such a picture," says Italian photographer Marco Meniero, who assembled this montage of green and other colors from the sun to Saturn:
"I took these pictures between Oct. 28th and Nov. 10th, 2020, from my home in Civitavecchia, Roma, Italy," says Meniero. "Each planet was near the horizon where the prismatic action of the low atmosphere could produce green rims and green flashes."
"When I photographed Jupiter, I got twenty good shots in which the green ray was present, but only one with Europa turning green," he recalls. "I decided to insert that one because it was the rarest of all. Later, I added high-resolution images of the planetary disks taken by my friend Alessandro Bianconi to clearly show the normal size of each planet with respect to the atmospheric optical deformation."
For a real treat, zoom in to the full-resolution montage and inspect each planet carefully. Additional photo details may be found here.
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VALENTINE'S GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Does someone in your life love space? Shop the Earth to Sky Store for their perfect Valentine's gift. All items in the store have flown to the stratosphere on board cosmic ray research balloons--and from now until Feb. 14th, everything is 10% off:
Each purchase comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. Don't forget to enter the coupon code "ILOVESPACE" for your Valentine's discount!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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