ALL QUIET: Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind that sparked a G1-class geomagnetic storm and short-lived auroras in the USA on June 15-16. Quiet conditions have resumed and are expected to persist for the next 3 days. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
WHY IS FROSTED METEOR SMOKE BLUE? Better late than never. Nearly a month after they first appeared, noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are finally spilling out of the Arctic Circle. Alan Dyer photographed these on June 16th near Gleichen, Alberta (+51oN):
"What a show!" says Dyer. "I've rarely seen noctilucent clouds so bright. They were brilliant and electric blue at dusk and returned again at dawn."
NLCs are Earth's highest clouds. They form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise to the edge of space (~83 km high) and crystallize around disintegrated meteoroids. When you see an NLC, you're literally seeing a cloud of frosted meteor smoke.
Why are they blue? The answer is ozone. Research in the 1970s revealed that much of the sunlight hitting noctilucent clouds first passes through Earth's ozone layer. Ozone absorbs red light, while allowing blue to pass. This filtered light gives NLCs their color.
The clouds are heading south. On June 16-17, NLCs crossed the Canadian border into Washington state, Oregon, the Dakotas and Montana. During previous summers they have traveled as far as Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Stay tuned for sightings.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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A FIST BUMP FROM THE MOON: "Last night (June 15), the Moon gave me a fist bump!" reports Mark A. Brown of Marion, Iowa. "It came from Crater Theophilus." Brown saw the feature as he scanned along the Moon's terminator looking for interesting shadows:
"Many of us have heard of the Lunar X and Lunar V," he says. "These illusory features are created by rims, mountains, and ridges as sunlight creeps up and around them. The Fist Bump is much the same."
"Theophilus has a lumpy mass of mountain material in the center of its crater that rises up some 6,000 feet," says Brown. "On June 15th, the sunlight was just right to create 'the fist.'. At the time, the Moon was 5.3 days old and 28.6% illuminated. It was so very cool to see this striking and unexpected feature!"
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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LIMITED EDITION MIRROR KIRK: There are 1000 of these somewhere on Earth ... but only this one has been to the stratosphere. On June 16, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a limited edition Mirror Kirk onboard their cosmic ray research balloon. Here he is floating 97,234 feet above Mono Lake in central California:
You can have him for $170.10 (the serial number of the Enterprise divided by 10). Modeled after the evil Kirk seen in the classic "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek (the original series), this 8" statue is made of high-quality polystone resin and expertly painted. It comes with a greeting card showing Kirk in flight and a certificate of authenticity.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, 1000 Mirror Kirk statues were manufactured and sold at sci-fi conventions in 2016. We've collected a few of these rarities to fly to the stratosphere, making them even more out-of-this-world. Get yours now.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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