SOLAR WIND, INCOMING: A minor stream of solar wind is heading for Earth. ETA: April 1st. The gaseous material is flowing from a relatively small hole in the sun's atmosphere, now facing our planet. Arctic auroras are likely when the solar wind arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
AURORAS OVER OKLAHOMA: Add Oklahoma to the list of US states where auroras appeared during the severe geomagnetic storm of March 23-24. "As it got very dark, the northern horizon erupted in pillars I could see with my naked eyes," reports Paul Smith, who photographed the display from the southern part of the state:
Smith is a world famous photographer of sprites and other transient luminous events. In fact, he was sprite-chasing at the time. "I had set up my camera with a clear view of the horizon, the better to see distant cloudtops where sprites emerge," he explains. This gave him a good view of the auroras as well.
"I definitely had a lump in my throat as emotions welled inside," he says. "Nature is always so giving."
Like other low-latitude displays on March 23-24, the auroras over Oklahoma were mostly red. This map shows the distribution of aurora photos submitted to Spaceweather.com, color coded by their dominant hue:
Most auroras are green, yet when auroras spread to low latitudes, the sightings are almost always red. There's a simple reason. Ordinary green auroras come from oxygen atoms about 150 km above Earth's surface. Red auroras are also caused by oxygen, but much higher up, between 150 km and 500 km. A picture taken by Andrew Morris in the UK nicely illustrates the red-on-green altitude structure. From relatively far-south places like Oklahoma, greens are mostly eclipsed by the northern horizon, leaving the higher reds to dominate the display.
Did *you* see red during the storm? Submit your photos here. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
new images: from Andy Jones of Hope, New Mexico; from Nancy Tompkins of Prescott, Arizona; from Denys Wachterdorff of Tooele, Utah; from Geoff Markowski of Underhill Vermont; from Mariah Winterowd of Wyoming
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SOLAR ECLIPSE CRYSTAL PYRAMID: On Aug. 21, 2017, during the Great American Solar Eclipse, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched 11 space weather balloons from the path of totality. The armada soared into the stratosphere, touching the shadow of the Moon more than 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. This pyramid hitched a ride:
You can have it for $159.95. With the sun, Earth, and Moon perfectly aligned, the faces of the 5-sided crystal caught the reflection of the eclipsed sun. Watch the video! The pyramid comes with a gift card showing the crystal floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere and passing through the Moon's shadow. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight and confirms that this gift has been to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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