GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: NOAA forecasters say that a minor G1-class geeomagnetic storm is likely on March 20-21 when a stream of high-speed solar wind hits Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing faster than 600 km/s from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
A RADIO STORM ON JUPITER: On March 11th, the loudspeaker of a radio telescope in New Mexico suddenly began to hiss and crackle. The sounds grew louder as Jupiter rose in the blue morning sky. "It was a shortwave radio storm on Jupiter -- in broad daylight," says Thomas Ashcraft, who operates the telescope. Click to listen to the sounds he recorded:
Click to listen or take a closer look at the dynamic spectrum
Discovered in 1955, Jupiter's radio storms are caused by natural radio lasers in the gas giant's magnetosphere. Electrical currents flowing between Jupiter's upper atmosphere and the volcanic moon Io can boost these emissions to power levels easily detected by ham radio antennas on Earth. Each swoosh and crackle in Ashcraft's recording is caused by a narrow radio laser beam sweeping past Earth.
"The storm happened around 10 am local mountain time," says Ashcraft. " I was lucky to have quiet solar conditions and minimal interference at the time of the storm. Daylight reception of Jovian radio emissions can be challenging due to daytime density of the ionosphere."
Anyone can build a radio telescope for Jupiter listening. Find out how from NASA's RadioJOVE project.
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FLAGSTAFF FOGBOW: Yesterday morning in Flagstaff, Arizona, David Blanchard stepped outside to survey the results of a departing winter storm. This is what he saw:
"The landscape was blanketed with snow, and cold fog hung in the air," says Blanchard. "My sun shadow was ringed by a magnificent fogbow with a Brocken Spectre at the center."
Fogbows are cousins of rainbows. The difference is droplet size. Large raindrops make rainbows. Smaller droplets of water make fogbows. Small droplets don't separate the colors of sunlight as widely as large raindrops do. In a fogbow, therefore, the colors are smeared together, producing a ghostly-white arc.
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"SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH": This is a great gift for fans of Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. On Nov. 28, 2020, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a pod of laser-etched dolphins to the stratosphere. Riding onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, they traveled 34.7 km (113,845 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have them for $99.95. The students are selling this and other edge of space gifts to support their cosmic ray monitoring program.The crystal sphere comes with a unique gift card showing the dolphins in flight and telling the story of their journey to the edge of space. Also included is a multi-colored LED illuminated stand. This creates a colorful visual effect and allows the orb to be used as a far-out night light.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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