CHANCE OF MINOR STORMS TODAY: NOAA forecasters say there is a chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on May 2nd when a solar wind stream is expected to reach Earth.The gaseous material is flowing ~500 km/s from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOMETHING IS COMING: A sunspot may be in the offing. Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory show a spray of hot plasma towering over the sun's southeastern limb:
This is probably the magnetic canopy of an approaching sunpot group. It formed days ago on the far side of the sun; now, solar rotation is turning it to face Earth. Astronomers with safely-filtered telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments as the active region emerges.
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CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A SPRITE: Sprites are not easy to see. You have to be far away to see over the tops of towering thunderheads where they appear. 200 km to 300 km is considered the sweet spot. On April 29th, however, Frankie Lucena photographed a sprite at a fraction of that distance:
"This is my closest sprite capture so far," says Lucena, who has photographed hundreds of them. "The thunderstorm was only a little more than 100 km southwest of my location in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico." See the map.
When the sprite leaped up above the thunderstorm, a companion bolt of lightning lanced down below. "According to the Vaisala lightning network, the cloud-to-ground lightning stroke that triggered this sprite had a peak current of 210 kA (kilo-ampères)." For comparison, normal cloud-to-ground flashes reach 10-30 kA. This is typical: Sprite appear when currents inside thunderheads become unusually strong.
And in this case ... unusually close. Have your own close encounter right here.
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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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