METEOR OUTBURST, CONFIRMED: The predictions were correct. Meteors rained over Antarctica yesterday when Earth crossed through a stream of debris from Comet 15P/Finlay, source of the newly-discovered Arid meteor shower. According to Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute, cameras in Chile, Australia and Namibia successfully triangulated the position of the shower's radiant (R.A. = 256.8 +/- 0.8, Decl. = -48.3 +/- 0.6 deg.) while meteor radars measured peak rates of 80 per hour. That's not the storm some forecasters expected, but still a significant shower. See you again next year, Arids!
RESTLESS SUNSPOT: Big, simple and quiet. That's how sunspot AR2882 started the week. But now it is getting restless, crackling with C-class solar flares. Here is the latest, recorded Oct. 8th (1108 UT) by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
New magnetic flux is emerging near the primary core of AR2882. The juxtaposition of oppositely-signed magnetic fields pressing together in AR2882 increases the odds of a significant flare from this formerly quiet sunspot. An M-flare this weekend would not be a surprise. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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AURORAS OVER ILULISSAT ICEFJORD: It's one of the darkest, coldest, most interesting places in the world. Ilulissat Icefjord is located on the west coast of Greenland where hyperactive glacier Sermeq Kujalleq meets the sea. Ruslan Merzlakov decided to go there and open up his camera to the night sky. This is what he saw on Oct. 3rd:
"It was so crazy and magnificent to experience some of the most perfect dark skies, where only starlight and auroras create shadows," says Merzlakov. "The icebergs in this photo are up to 500 meters in length, making the scenery a thousand times more jawdropping."
During his photoshoot, the air trembled with the eerie sounds of Sermeq Kujalleq calving ice into the fjord. Annually, the glacier sheds more than 46 cubic kilometres of ice. That is 10% of all Greenland's calf ice. Some of the ice flowing toward the fjord is more than 250,000 years old, providing researchers with vital samples of Earth's ancient climate before it drops into the sea.
There was no geomagnetic storm on Oct. 3rd. Ilulissat Icefjord doesn't need one. It's out of this world all on its own.
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STERLING SILVER INFINITY PEARL: Nothing says "I love you forever" like the Infinity Pearl. On Jan. 10, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this unique pendant to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. For more than 2 hours it floated 101,378+ feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $249.95. The students are selling space pearls to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Measuring 9 mm in diameter, the Infinity Pearl is mounted on a sterling silver infinity twist and suspended from a matching 17 inch long sterling silver chain. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
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