THE RUSSELL-MCPHERRON EFFECT: The vernal equinox is only two weeks away. That's good news, because auroras love equinoxes. Researchers call it the "Russell-McPherron effect." At this time of year, cracks form in Earth's magnetic field. Even a weak stream of solar wind can penetrate to spark a good display. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR FLARE AND CME: Solar activity is high with multiple strong M-class solar flares over the weekend. The strongest so far, an M5.8-class explosion from sunspot AR3243 on March 6th (0228 UTC), caused a shortwave radio blackout over Australia:
Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal and other unusual propagation effects for more than an hour after the flare.
The explosion also hurled a bright and fast CME into space, shown here in a video from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
Most of the storm cloud will miss Earth, sailing upstream of our planet. Most, but not all. Look carefully at the uncompressed coronagraph movie. There is a faint halo suggesting an Earth-directed component. A glancing blow could occur on March 9th, producing a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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AURORAS OVER THE DEVIL'S TOWER: On Feb. 26th, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field, sparking a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm with rare auroras at mid-latitudes. Tom A. Warner was waiting with his camera at Devil's Tower, Wyoming, when the CME arrived:
"The geomagnetic storm lit up the Devil's Tower with bands of green and beautiful red rays," says Warner.
Located at latitude +44.6N, the Devil's Tower rises 867 feet above the surrounding terrain. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America. The tower's unique appearance has made it a popular subject for photographers and filmmakers, and it was even featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
The auroras didn't stop there. As the storm intensified, the lights descended all the way to latitude +40N, with sightings in Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri. More mid-latitude auroras are in the offing as Solar Cycle 25 intensifies. Stay tuned! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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STERLING SILVER HUMMINGBIRD PENDANT: This hummingbird has touched space. On Sept. 22, 2022, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the sterling silver pendant to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, more than 117,710 feet high:
You can have it for $169.95. The students are selling hummingbird pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the bird and red lily in flight, and telling the story of their trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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