GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: A CME struck Earth's magnetic field today, April 18th, at 1401 UT. The initial impact did not spark a geomagnetic storm, but now a storm is brewing as Earth passes throuigh the CME's magnetized wake. Minor G1-class storms with high-latitude auroras are possible in the hours ahead. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
MAGNETIC FILAMENTS ON THE SUN: Not every dark object on the sun is a sunspot. There are also magnetic filaments. When amateur astronomer Michael Borman of Evansville, Indiana, photographed the sun on April 17th, he counted more than a dozen of them:
Magnetic filaments are narrow tubes of magnetism filled with plasma suspended above the surface of the sun. They look dark because the plasma inside is a little cooler than the underlying star. Magnetic filaments are famously unstable, and they often erupt, hurling CMEs into space.
The most important filament in Borman's photo is the extremely long one stretching across the sun's high-northern hemisphere. Parts of it have been exploding for days like this on April 15th and this on April 17th. Both of those sample eruptions propelled CMEs into space, albeit not toward Earth.
With so many filaments on the sun, a geoeffective CME may be just a matter of time. Stay tuned. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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SIERRA MOONRISE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Sierra Moonrise Pendant. It flew to the edge of space on April 15, 2023, floating on a cosmic ray balloon 117,400 feet above the historically-snowy Sierra Nevada mountains of California:
You can have it for $179.95. The sterling silver pendant shows the craggy Sierra range with a full Moonstone rising overhead. It makes a great birthday, anniversary or Mother's day gift.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space 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 stratosphere and back again
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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