A CRACK IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD: A crack is opening in Earth's magnetic field as a region of negative BsubZ washes over our planet. This could be a sign that a CME is passing nearby. Minor geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
INTENSIFYING SOLAR ACTIVITY: By the time you finish reading this, the sun will have probably flared again. Earth-orbiting satellites are detecting an almost non-stop fusillade of M-class flares so closely-spaced they overlap in time:
Pulses of UV radiation are ionizing the top of Earth's atmosphere, creating a rolling series of shortwave radio blackouts around all longitudes of our planet. Ham radio operators may notice fluctuating loss of signal at frequencies below 20 MHz.
The source of these flares is a pair of sunspots rotating over the sun's eastern limb:
On the left is AR3310, which produced a powerful M9.6 flare on May 16th. On the right is AR3311, which has produced everything else. The flares will become increasingly geoeffective as the sunspots turn toward Earth this weekend. If current trends continue, there could be an X-flare, too. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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"ALWAYS AND FOREVER" SPACE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Always and Forever Space Pendent. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $199.95. Engraved with the words "I love you always and forever", this 18K gold-plated pendant has a heart-shaped citrine crystal in the middle surrounded by a ring of glittering cubic zirconia nuggets.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry 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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