POSSIBLE EARTH-DIRECTED EXPLOSION: Yesterday, Sept. 5th, decaying sunspot AR2865 produced a B7-class solar flare. The explosion sent a shadowy shock wave rippling through the sun's lower atmosphere and may have hurled a faint CME toward Earth. ETA: Sept. 8-9. Stay tuned for updates about this potentially geoeffective event. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
ELLERMAN BOMBS: Bombs are going off in new sunspot AR2866. They're called "Ellerman bombs." A handful are circled in this image taken yesterday by Philippe Tosi of Nîmes, France.
Ellerman bombs are magnetic explosions about one-millionth as powerful as true solar flares. They are named after physicist Ferdinand Ellerman who studied the tiny blasts in the early 20th century. Of course, "tiny" is relative. A single Ellerman bomb releases about 1026 ergs of energy--equal to about 100,000 World War II atomic bombs.
If sunspot AR2866 continues to blow off steam with Ellerman bombs, it might not produce a big flare. Either way, it's a dynamic target for solar photographers. Submit your pictures here.
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POINTY-EARED COFFEE CUP: It's the logical way to wake up in the morning: Coffee in a Mr. Spock Cup. It has pointy ears, holds 20 oz. of coffee, and comes from the edge of space. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew the cup to the stratosphere on Aug. 25th onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $99.95. The students are selling Spock cups to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with greeting card showing the heavy-duty ceramic cup in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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