AN OFF-TARGET CME MIGHT SIDESWIPE EARTH TOMORROW: 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. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, especially in the southern hemisphere where autumn darkness favors visibility. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR POLLEN CORONA: This week in Germany, something in the air is making sunsets look unusual. "It's pollen," says Heiko Ulbricht, who photographed the phenomenon from Landberg hill in Saxony:
The elliptical rings around the sun are a pollen corona. Most readers have seen coronas around the sun before. They are usually caused by water droplets in clouds, which scatter light into ring-shaped forms. Pollens do this even better than water. The coronas they create are compact and intensely colorful.
"The pollen is coming from pine trees in the area," says Ulbricht. Springtime cones are opening, spreading pollen grains so that pines can reproduce. "There was a layer of pollen hanging in the still air when I took this picture," he explains.
Above: pine pollens seen through a microscope [more]
Viewed through a microscope, pine pollens look like Mickey Mouse ears. The ears and cap are air sacs which help carry them in the wind. Air movement aligns these assymetrical scatterers so that the resulting corona is elliptical with bright patches.
Got pines? Your next sunset may be a little unusual. Submit your photos here.
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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: Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from space. On May 26, 2021, this sterling silver infinity-wrapped moonstone pendant hitched a ride on an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight it floated 112,201 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $142.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Engraved with "I Love You More," it makes a great anniversary, birthday or (never too early!) Christmas gift. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the moonstone in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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