GEOMAGNETIC STORM--CANCELLED: NOAA forecasters no longer believe that a G2-class geomagnetic storm is likely today. The CMEs thought to be heading our way are either late or have missed altogether. Either way, the chance of a significant storm is diminished. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

NEW SUNSPOT, RAPIDLY GROWING: It didn't exist yesterday. Now it's bigger than Earth. A new sunspot is rapidly growing in the sun's southern hemisphere. Maximilian Teodorescu sends this picture of the active region from Magurele, Romania:

"This group was born and evolved in just 24 hours," says Teodorescu. "It is rather large. In both white light and H-alpha you can see a lot of activity between the main spots." NOAA has numbered this region AR2863.

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SEPTEMBER KICKS OFF AURORA SEASON: Studies by NASA show that September is one of the best months of the year for auroras. So far so good. On Sept. 1st, skies over Alaska erupted in color:

"The moon, stars and auroras reflected from a calm lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley at 1:23 am," reports photographer Todd Salat. "Welcome to September!"

What makes September so good? It's a combination of two things: (1) Summer sunlight is waning, providing a dark backdrop for midnight auroras. (2) During weeks around equinoxes, cracks form in Earth's magnetosphere, allowing solar wind to enter; it's called "the Russell-McPherron effect."

If CMEs do hit Earth's magnetic field today, as predicted, September could help turn the impact(s) into a beautiful display. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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THIS IS *REAL* MONEY FROM SPACE: Earlier this year, the US Mint released a reverse-proof dollar coin honoring the Hubble Space Telescope. You can no longer buy these coins from the Mint, but you can get some from Earth to Sky Calculus. The students launched the coins to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:

You can buy one coin for $49.95. Each coin comes with a greeting card showing the money in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere. Best of all, this is real money! You can actually spend it. All sales support hands-on STEM research.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education