MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: NOAA forecasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on April 20th when a CME is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. The CME was hurled in our direction by the eruption of a solar magnetic filament on April 16th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
ONE DAY UNTIL THE SOLAR ECLIPSE: Tomorrow, April 20th, a rare hybrid solar eclipse will sweep across Australia and Indonesia. Eclipse chaser Mohamad Sol couldn't wait. One day early, he snapped this picture of the Moon from inside the path of totality:
"Just the day before the total solar eclipse, I observed this fabulous moonrise from Exmouth, Australia, where the eclipse will be total on April 20th," says Sol.
A hybrid eclipse is a mixture of two types: an annular eclipse and a total eclipse. The difference is the size of the Moon. During the annular phase, the Moon is slightly too small to cover the entire solar disk, resulting in a "ring of fire." During the total phase, the whole sun is covered, revealing the sun's ghostly corona.
Tomorrow's eclipse begins as an annular eclipse over the Indian Ocean, transitions into a total eclipse as it moves over western Australia, then becomes an annular eclipse again over the South Pacific. The last time such a hybrid eclipse occurred was Nov. 3, 2013.
Outside the narrow red path (shown above), the eclipse will be partial--neither annular nor total. The sun will still be very bright, but shaped like a crescent as the Moon takes a bite out of the solar disk. Observers in this broad region can look directly at the eclipsed sun using safe solar eclipse glasses.
Are you in the eclipse zone? Submit your images here.
Realtime Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery
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STERLING SILVER 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
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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