GLANCING BLOW POSSIBLE TODAY: NOAA forecasters say that a CME might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field later today, March 19th. The storm cloud was launched 3 days ago by an erupting filament of magnetism on the sun. This is a low confidence forecast; the CME might miss. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible if/when the CME arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
A SAHARA DUST STORM IN EUROPE (UPDATED): A few hundred million kilograms of desert dust just swirled across Europe. Jordi L. Coy photographed the scene from southern Spain on March 15th:
"It looks like the apocalypse," says Coy. "The atmospheric phenomenon will go down in history as the largest incursion into the Iberian Peninsula since record-keeping began. In the image, you can see the city of Elda under a dense blanket of sand, and on the crest of the mountain a person observing."
The gritty dust comes from the Sahara desert in Africa. This animation from Europe's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service shows a massive plume covering Spain on March 15th before dispersing into northern Europe:
Plumes of Sahara dust drift over Europe multiple times each year, but this week's event is exceptional. In Spain the air was choked with coarse particulate matter (PM10). Dust has coated European ski slopes and glaciers, hastening seasonal melts, and hazy skies are being reported as far north as Poland and Germany.
"Although the cloud of Sahara sand is not as dense here in Poland as in the more southern countries, it turned last night's full Moon a deep red," reports Marek Nikodem who photographed the moonrise near Szubin, Poland:
"It was a unique and amazing sight," says Nikodem.
more images: from Michael Karrer of Austria; from Erwin Jaklitsch of Oberwagenburg - Kloten, Switzerland; from Dorothea Grolig of Vienna Woods, Austria; from Paolo Bardelli of Sumirago (Varese), Italy
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STERLING SILVER DOLPHIN PENDANT: 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
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