GEOMAGNETIC STORM UPDATE: Earth's magnetic field is reverberating from the impact of a CME during the early hours of Oct. 12th (0230 UT). The blow triggered a G2-class geomagnetic storm--actually, a double storm--which is only now subsiding more than 12 hours later. Arctic sky watchers should remain alert for auroras as Earth exits the CME's magnetized wake. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
AURORAS IN THE USA: It's been a while. Last night, auroras were sighted in more than a dozen US states after a CME struck Earth's magnetic field. "The G2 geomagnetic storm produced the first visible auroras from coastal Massachusetts since 2017," reports Chris Cook, who snapped this 30-second self portrait around 1am EDT:
The red-topped auroras Cook witnessed are relatively rare; they appear during geomagnetic storms that spread far from the poles. Red is caused by oxygen atoms meeting the solar wind as high as 500 km above Earth's surface.
In some states the auroras were so bright onlookers photographed them using nothing more than their cell phones. iPhone or Android? You decide:
The iPhone photo on the left comes from Tyler Knight of Mound, Minnesota, while the Samsung Galaxy image on the right was taken by meteorologist James Sinko on Castle Hill, Maine. Across the border in Saskatoon, Canada, Frank Lang recorded a must-see video using his iPhone 12.
At the apex of the storm, auroras descended as far south as Nebraska. Caryl Bohn photographed their faint red glow from the town of West Oak.
Subscribers to our Space Weather Alert system were notified the instant the CME hit. The alert was triggered by a sudden uptick in solar wind speed signalling the arrival of a shock front:
The plot shows data from NOAA's DSCOVR spacecraft. When the CME passed by, the solar wind quickened by 120 km/s. At the same time, the plasma density tripled, and the temperature increased almost 10-fold. These are classic signs of a direct hit by a CME.
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STAR TREK WINE STOPPER: It's the most far-out wine stopper ever! On Sept. 9, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the USS Enterprise to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here is the starship-shaped stopper floating 105,563 feet above the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $99.95. The students are selling these must-have bar accessories to support their cosmic ray research program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the stopper in flight, telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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