ANOTHER CME IS COMING: On March 13th, an unstable filament of magnetism in the sun's far-southern hemisphere exploded. The resulting CME could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 17th. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible if/when the CME arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
AN M-FLARE A DAY KEEPS THE SHORTWAVES AWAY: Sunspot AR2965 is crackling with M-class solar flares. Here is the latest, recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory during the late hours of March 15th:
The pulse of ultraviolet radiation, shown above, ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere. This, in turn, caused a minor shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean: blackout map. Mariners, aviators, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 20 MHz for ~30 minutes around 23:30 UTC.
Facing Earth, the sunspot has been producing such a flare about once a day for the past week. Each explosion briefly disrupted shortwave radio communications on the dayside of our planet. Remarkably, none of the flares has hurled a CME into space. No problem. This series of radio blackouts shows that the sun can affect Earth even without a CME. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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AURORAS IN MOTION: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on March 13th, sparking a 15-hour geomagnetic storm and some of the best auroras in years. Photographer Göran Strand of Sweden had time to make a whole video. The best auroras are at the end:
"The show started at 01:00 local Swedish time on March 14th," says Strand. "There were some of the most active coronas I've ever seen with such fast moving activity. It was truly an amazing show and one I will remember for a long time."
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STERLING SILVER FROLICKING DOLPHIN: On Feb. 28, 2022, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray research balloon. This sterling silver dolphin hitched a ride, flying 111,101 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California:
You can have it for $142.95. Leaping through blue crystal waves, the playful cetacean is 100% 925 sterling silver. It comes with a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain The entire pendant is lead-free, nickel-free, cadmium-free, and totally hypoallergenic.
Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the dolphin in flight, and telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again. All sales support the student's cosmic ray research program.
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All sales support hands-on STEM education