A CME IS HEADING FOR MARS: The "mystery explosion" described below has hurled a CME toward Mars. A NASA model suggests it will hit the Red Planet on Sept. 1st. The impact will probably spark ultraviolet auroras on Mars and erode a small amount of the planet's atmosphere. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
'M' IS FOR MYSTERY (UPDATED): Earth-orbiting satelites detected an M1-class solar flare on Aug. 26th (2250 UT), but we're not sure what caused it. Here is the spray of debris flying up from the blast site:
The source of the flare is hidden behind the sun's eastern limb, so we can't see it from Earth. Neither NASA's Perseverance Mars rover (which has a direct view of the area) nor helioseismic echoes of the sun's farside indicate a sunspot at that location--so it's a bit of a mystery. Soon we will find out. The sun's rotation will turn the blast site toward us in a few days. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
Update: This was a long duration flare that had plenty of time to lift a CME out of the sun's atmosphere. Indeed, SOHO coronagraphs have detected a bright CME emerging from the blast site. It will not hit Earth.
GIANT JELLYFISH SPRITE: On Aug. 14th, Stanislav Kaniansky of Latky, Slovakia, took one of the most detailed pictures ever of a sprite, an exotic form of upward-directed lightning. For a fraction of a second it towered over the landscape like a massive jellyfish:
"The thunderstorm was about 320 km away, giving me a good view of the atmosphere just above the cloudtops," says Kaniansky. "I captured the sprite using a Sony A7III digital camera with a 3.2 second exposure (ISO 8000)."
From bushy head to tentacled-toe, the sprite stretched about 50 km, ten times taller than a normal bolt of lightning. Balls of light only a few hundred meters in diameter dot the jellyfish's waist and tentacles.
Only a few decades ago, such a photo might be considered outlandish and possibly even fake. Now, however, we know that sprites are real and that they can assume a variety of fantastic shapes. See for yourself.
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STORM TROOPER WHISKEY DECANTER: It's the perfect gift for a Star Wars fan--the Storm Trooper Whiskey Decanter. On Oct. 10, 2022, it hitched a ride onboard a cosmic ray balloon floating 106,066 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $99.95. The 750 ml decanter comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. All purchases from the Earth to Sky Store help pay the helium bill for our student ballooning program.
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