GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH--CANCELED: A CME expected to graze Earth on March 9th either missed or is approaching more slowly than expected. Either way, the geomagnetic storm watch (G1) is cancelled. Global geomagnetic activity should remain low for the rest of the weekend. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
A SNEAKY-DANGEROUS SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR3599 doesn't look dangerous. It is relatively small and has a simple, bipolar morphology--two factors which usually add up to "harmless." Yet today (March 10 @ 1213 UT), it produced a strong M7-class solar flare:
Extreme ultraviolet radiation radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a strong shortwave radio blackout over Africa and the South Atlantic: map. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal for as much as 30 minutes after the flare.
So far it does not appear that the flare hurled a significant CME toward Earth. Stay tuned for updates as more data from SOHO coronagraphs become available. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
SOLAR EXPLOSION TARGETS MERCURY: A huge magnetic filament erupted from the farside of the sun on March 9-10. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured only a fragment of the 500,000 km-wide blast:
Debris from the explosion is emerging from the sun in the form of a CME: movie. The CME will not hit Earth. Instead, later today, it will slam into Mercury. New research shows that this will probably ignite X-ray auroras at ground level on Mercury's rocky surface.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
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
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter