ARE WE WRONG ABOUT THE SOLAR CYCLE? Solar Cycle 25 is just getting started. A new article in the New York Times examines a growing dispute among forecasters, who can't decide if the coming Solar Maximum will be boom or bust. Spaceweather.com is quoted likening the situation to an Elephant. Read it.
A CME IS COMING: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on June 1st when a CME is expected to sideswipe Earth's magnetic field. The storm cloud was hurled into space on May 28th by departing sunspot AR2824, shown here in a movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory:
This is one of the brightest and fastest CMEs in years. If it were heading directly toward Earth the forecast might be different, calling for major instead of minor geomagnetic storms. However, sunspot AR2824 was almost all the way out of the Earth strike zone when it erupted (category C9) on May 28th. Only the trailing periphery of the plasma cloud is likely to reach us.
That said, even glancing blows from CMEs an produce a good light show. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS OVER CANADA: "Noctilucent cloud season has officially begun in Alberta," reports Harlan Thomas from the countryside near Calgary. "I saw them just before sunrise on May 30th." Electric-blue tendrils meandering horizontally across the top of this image are NLCs:
"The clouds were visible despite an 87% waning gibbous Moon; they were bright enough to overcome the moonlight," he says.
NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space about 83 km above the ground. The clouds form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke.
2021 is shaping up to be a good year for NLCs as early-arriving clouds descend to lower latitudes than usual. Pro tip for northern sky watchers: Look west 30 minutes after sunset. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.
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"I LOVE YOU MORE" MOONSTONE PENDANT: This moonstone has touched space. On May 26, 2021, the pendant hitched a ride on an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon, floating 112,201 feet above the Sierra Nevada of central California:
You can have it for $142.95. The moonstone's sterling silver infinity wrap is engraved with "I Love You More." It's the perfect birthday, anniversary or (never too early!) Christmas gift for that special someone who loves space. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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