QUIET WITH A CHANCE OF UNREST: Following yesterday's complete miss by two CMEs, Earth's magnetic field is calm and quiet. The next episode of unrest is due on Sept. 5th when a stream of solar wind is expected to reach our planet. The gaseous material is flowing from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
THE DANGER OF SUNSPOTS THAT DON'T FACE EARTH: Big sunspot AR2860 is about to disappear over the sun's western limb. This makes it uniquely dangerous. Scroll past this image of the departing sunspot taken by Romanian astronomer Maximilian Teodorescu to find out why:
Sunspots located near the sun's western limb are magnetically connected to Earth. The sun's magnetic field spirals around like a lawn sprinker--a shape known as the "Parker spiral." Look at this diagram. Lines of magnetic force coming out of the western limb curve around and touch our planet.
If there is an eruption today while AR2860 is passing through this danger zone, the debris will be funneled back to Earth. The resulting radiation storm could pepper satellites with high-energy protons, fogging cameras and causing reboots of onboard electronics. At such times, shortwave radio propagation can become difficult to impossible. During extreme storms, passengers and crew in commercial aircraft may be exposed to radiation.
Hurry through the danger zone, AR2860!
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
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
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter