A GEOMAGNETIC STORM IS BREWING: Earth's polar magnetic field is unsettled on Aug. 7th in response to the arrival of an unexpected solar wind stream. The planetary K-index has reached 4 (almost a geomagnetic storm) and could soon hit 5 (minor geomagnetic storm) if the buffeting continues. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR FILAMENT SNAPS, MISSES EARTH: A magnetic filament in the sun's southern hemisphere snapped during the early hours of Aug. 6th, hurling pieces of itself into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the eruption:
The debris will not hit Earth. Meanwhile, there are three more filaments arrayed across the sun's southern hemisphere, and two of them are almost directly facing our planet. Maybe next time. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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DOOMED COMET (UPDATED): A comet just fell into the sun. Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded its death dive, which began on August 6th:
An updated movie on Aug. 7th shows one comet going in, no comet coming out. The dirty snowball evaporated.
The doomed comet was almost certaintly a "Kreutz sungrazer," a fragment from a giant comet that broke apart many centuries ago. A swarm of these fragments orbits the sun, and every day at least one gets too close and disintegrates. Most, measuring less than a few meters across, are too small to see, but occasionally a big one like today's attracts attention.
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COSMIC RAY YIN-YANG PENDANT: To celebrate the yin-yang relationship between solar activity and galactic cosmic rays, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus just launched a yin-yang pendant to the stratosphere. On July 23rd, it flew 104,265 ft high onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $133.95. In this pendant, a sterling silver frame surrounds balancing swirls of black onyx and mother of pearl--all suspended from a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain. It makes a great anniversary, birthday or (never too early!) Christmas gift.
The students are selling yin-yang pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
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