CME NEAR-MISS POSSIBLE ON JUNE 5TH: A minor coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun on June 1st will pass close to Earth on June 5th, according to NOAA analysts. It might come close enough for a glancing blow. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the CME arrives this weekend. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: They're back. Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) have returned to the northern hemisphere. On June 1st, Harlan Thomas photographed the silvery ripples over Gayford Pond northeast of Calgary, Alberta:
"Yay!" says Thomas. "The first night of NLCs in Alberta for 2022 was very nice start to our season."
NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. They form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise to the edge of space (~83 km high) and crystallize around disintegrated meteoroids. When you see one, you’re literally seeing a cloud of frosted meteor smoke.
NASA's AIM spacecraft detected the season's first NLCs near the North Pole on May 22nd. Now they are spreading. Gayford Pond is at latitude +51N. Soon, the clouds will be even further south, probably reaching mid-latitudes by the second week of June. To see them, look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset (or before sunrise) when the sun is just below the horizon. They look like this.
more images: from Alan C. Tough of Elgin, Moray, Scotland; from Andy Stables of Milovaig, Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Gordon Ward of Hightown, Castleford, England; from Laura Kranich of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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CAPT. KIRK BEER COZY: Boldly going where no beer has gone before, this Capt. Kirk beer cozy flew to the edge of space on May 21, 2022. It hitched a ride onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is parachuting back to Earth from an altitude of 109,888 feet:
You can have it for $79.95. The students are selling beer cozies (beer not included) to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. They make great Father's Day and birthday gifts. Each one comes with greeting card showing the cozy in flight, and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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