WAITING FOR THE CMEs: Multiple CMEs expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 13th either missed or they are running late. NOAA is betting on the latter. The official forecast calls for minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on Feb 14th in response to the overdue CMEs. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
SOLAR RADIATION STORM UPDATE: For the third day in a row, energetic protons from the sun are raining down on Earth. However, the storm is subsiding. It is now a minor S1-class event. The storm's one lingering effect is a polar cap absorption event (PCA):
Red zones in this global map show where shortwave radio transmissions are being absorbed. Frequencies below 15 MHz are almost completely blacked out, while anything below 35 MHz is being attentuated, at least a little.
This is a direct result of the ongoing solar radiation storm. Earth's magnetic field funnels the proton rain toward the poles where their ionizing effect causes the absorption of shortwave radio. The south pole is more strongly effected than the north pole because it is now summer in the south; that side of Earth is tilted into the radiation storm.
The absorption event could last for days; you can can monitor its progress here.
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FARSIDE HALO CME: Something exploded on the farside of the sun today. We know because it threw a halo CME into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) caught the cloud leaving the sun just after 0600 UT:
This CME will not hit Earth. Instead, Mercury and Mars are in the line of fire. A NASA model of the CME indicates that it has already hit Mercury and it will reach Mars on Feb. 17th. CMEs striking Mercury can ignite X-ray auroras at ground level on that planet's rocky surface. CMEs hitting Mars cause a completely different kind of auroras, which shine at UV wavelengths high in the tops of the Red Planet's magnetic umbrellas.
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18K GOLD "LOVE YOU TO THE MOON" LOCKET: This is a very special locket. It's heart-shaped, plated with 18K gold, and we will fly it again during this year's total eclipse of the sun. Keep reading...
On Jan. 26, 2024, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this locket to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight, it floated 111,535 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
Buy it now for $149.95, and we'll fly it again--FOR FREE--during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The students will be launching multiple balloons from the path of totality in Texas. Your pendant will go along for the ride, touching the shadow of the Moon at the edge of space. (Simply type "FLY IT AGAIN" in the comments box at checkout.)
The locket, which opens to hold a personal photo or other small item, comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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