INCREASING SOLAR ACTIVITY: In the past 36 hours alone, the sun has produced 3 relatively bright coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Watch the movie. So far they are flying to the left and right of Earth, with none landing a solid blow. One of the CMEs, launched by the 'fire fountain eruption' described below, *might* weakly sideswipe Earth on April 30th, but the forecast is uncertain. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
'FIRE FOUNTAIN' ERUPTION: You don't need a sunspot to make a solar storm. The sun proved it on April 25th when a spotless patch of the sun's southern hemisphere erupted. A dark filament of magnetism flew into space, lifting a semi-circular 'fire fountain' behind it. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the event:
The erupting filament tore through the sun's atmosphere, hurling a cloud of plasma into space. The resulting CME will miss Earth ... mostly. NOAA forecasters say there's a slight chance of a glancing blow on April 30th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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RARE V-SHAPED SUN HALO: You don't see this every day, especially not in Florida. On April 23rd, a pair of glowing V's appeared above the setting sun, both caused by ice crystals in the air. Dan Gore photographed them from Viera, FL:
"They lingered for about 5 minutes, then they were gone," says Gore. "It was a beautiful sight."
These are sun halos, one rare and one common. The lower 'V' is a common upper tangent arc created by sunlight shining through pencil-shaped ice crystals. The upper 'V' is a rare Parry arc created by similar kinds of ice crystals, but... To make the Parry arc, the crystals had to be horizontal, not rotate, and have two faces horizontal, too. It sounds improbable, and it is. That's why the Parry arc is so rare.
What's all this ice doing in Florida air? The crystals were located in cirrus clouds 5 to 10 km above the ground where the air is always freezing--even in Florida. Parry arcs prefer cold climates, but they can appear in the Sunshine State, too.
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MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 9TH: Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love:
Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed!
Mother's Day Special: Use coupon code "SPACEMOM" at checkout for a 10% discount. Offer valid from now until Mother's Day (May 9, 2021) .
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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