SOLAR ORBITER SURVIVES RISKY FLYBY: Europe's Solar Orbiter buzzed Earth on Saturday just 470 km above the Atlantic Ocean. The close approach brought the spacecraft within the debris zone of Russia's recent ASAT test. Spoiler alert: It survived. Scott Tucker photographed Solar Orbiter racing through the constellation Aries just after the flyby. Watch the movie.
AFTERGLOW OF A CME: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 27th (23:30 UT). The weak impact did not cause a geomagnetic storm, but there was a beautiful afterglow. Aurora tour guide Marianne Bergli photographed it from Tromsø, Norway:
"My guests were a little skeptical at first ... then Boom! Wow, Fantastic," she says. "The colors were absolutely amazing."
The display occured hours after the CME struck. Earth was passing through the CME's wake when magnetic fields trailing the storm cloud opened a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in, sparking auroras around the Arctic Circle. This sequence is not uncommon. First contact with a CME often produces surprisingly little activity. Then comes the afterglow. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
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GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Christmas is coming. Are you looking for a far-out gift? Check out the Earth to Sky Store. It's filled with unique items that have flown to the edge of space onboard cosmic ray research balloons.
Carried aloft by giant helium balloons, these unique gifts have flown above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth after the balloon explodes. Even Amazon doesn't carry items this far out.
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Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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