COSMIC RAY PAYLOAD STUCK IN A GLACIER: This weekend, Dr. Tony Phillips will lead a team of climbers to Echo Lake, a mile-wide pool of melted snow 12,000 feet high in the Sierra Nevada. A payload of radiation sensors from an Earth to Sky cosmic ray balloon has been stuck in a glacier there for more than a year. This will be the team's 7th attempt to recover it--a lucky number? Stay tuned for the trip report.
MULTIPLE CMEs ARE COMING: Geomagnetic storms are likely on Dec. 16th and 17th when multiple CMEs hit Earth's magnetic field. A new NOAA model shows three CMEs combining to form a single storm front, striking in unison on Dec. 16th around 20:00 UT:
Click to view an animation of this forecast model
All of the incoming CMEs were launched into space by sunspot AR3514, which has been flaring almost constantly since Dec. 13th. The most important CME is linked to the X2.8-class flare of Dec. 14th; that one alone should be sufficient to spark a geomagnetic storm this weekend.
NOAA analysts have issued a watch for G2-class (Moderate) geomagnetic storms with a chance of escalating to category G3 (Strong). A strong storm would produce auroras at mid-latitudes with no Moon to spoil the show. Stay tuned! CME impact alerts: SMS Text
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AMBER DRAGONFLY SPACE PENDANT: This dragonfly has touched space. On Nov. 28th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, 109,228 feet above California's Sierra Nevada:
You can have it for $179.95. Made of genuine Baltic Amber with a sterling silver exoskeleton, the pendant measures 1 1/4 inch and comes with a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain. The wings of the dragonfly include four pieces of natural amber colored Cognac, Olive Green and Honey Yellow.
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.
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