SUDDEN QUIET: Solar activity has dropped to low levels as the sun turns a nearly spotless hemisphere toward Earth. Since giant sunspot AR3615 departed last week, the sun's baseline X-ray output has decreased by about a factor of ten. No solar storms are predicted between now and the April 8th solar eclipse. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
ECLIPSE WEATHER FORECAST: It's a terrible time for clouds. The last total eclipse in the USA for 20 years happens on Monday, April 8th, and, according to forecasts, most of the path of totality will be overcast:
Millions of people traveling to statistically-clear areas in Mexico and Texas could find themselves staring at gray clouds instead of the eclipsed sun. Cloudier parts of New England might, ironically, have a better view.
Spaceweather.com will be in Texas on April 8th to launch cameras high above the clouds. We'll be releasing Earth to Sky cosmic ray research balloons from the path of totality with optics that might catch the Moon's shadow darkening the clouds below--a potentially unique and beautiful view from the stratosphere. Stay tuned!
More: Why a Cloudy Forecast Doesn't Mean Your Eclipse is Ruined -- from CNN
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LATE-SEASON ARCTIC AURORAS: Around the Arctic Circle, many aurora tour guides have already packed their cameras for the end of the season. Marianne Bergli of Tromsø, Norway, is glad she waited one more night. "Auroras filled the sky on April 4th," she reports. "It was a fantastic end to our touring season."
A solar wind stream brushed Earth's magnetic field on April 4th. It did not cause a global geomagnetic storm; the planetary K-index peaked at 4. Nevertheless, the Arctic light show was sublime.
Soon, summer sunlight will make these displays impossible to see inside the Arctic Circle. That's why Bergli and others are going on vacation. "We start again in September," she says.
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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.
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