A CME JUST HIT EARTH: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on Aug. 20th at approximately 1800 UT. This is the first of two CMEs (#1, #2) expected to arrive in the Aug. 20-21 time frame. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead, possibly intensifying to category G2 when the second CME arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
RED AURORA AUSTRALIS: It's winter in New Zealand--the perfect time to see aurora australis, the Southern Lights. On Aug. 19th, Minoru Yoneto photographed a deep red display over the South Island:
"You need to use an astronomically modified camera to capture this much red color," says Yoneto. Over the years he has perfected the art using his Astro-modified Canon EOS 6D digital camera.
Red auroras are rare because they are the most delicate. The scarlet glow comes from atomic oxygen near the top of Earth's atmosphere. Oxygen atoms excited by solar wind or a CME impact spit out their red photons very slowly. The radiative lifetime of the transition is 110 seconds--an eternity at the quantum scale. The atoms must remain undisturbed that long to produce their eerie red light.
Yoneto took the picture during a G1-class (minor) geomagnetic storm--part of the ongoing storminess that began with a CME impact on Aug. 17th. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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JEDI WINE GLASS: Are you looking for a far out gift? Consider the Jedi Wine Glass. This one hitched a ride to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon on June 1, 2022:
You can have it for $99.95. The funny stemless wine glass spent 2 hours floating in the stratosphere while cosmic ray sensors gathered data. It experienced temperatures as low as -63C and a vacuum-like air pressure only 0.2% of sea level.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling Jedi wine glasses to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the glass 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
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