A GLANCING-BLOW CME IS COMING: NOAA forecasters say that a CME might hit Earth's magnetic field on April 14th. The glancing blow could trigger a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with photographic auroras at high latitudes. This CME was hurled into space by a beautiful eruption in the sun's northern hemisphere on April 11th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
SOLAR ECLIPSE COMET IN HDR: A new picture of Monday's doomed eclipse comet has emerged. Petr Horálek took it from the path of totality in Durango, Mexico:
"I got lucky with this shot of comet SOHO-5008, which was discovered on April 8th just before the eclipse," says Horálek. "The image is the result of HDR shooting with exposures ranging from 1/4000s to 2s. During the truly windy 3 minutes and 25 seconds of totality I managed to capture a total of 83 usable images."
Well done, Petr! More amazing photos of totality may be found in our Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery. Take a look.
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VOLCANIC VORTEX RINGS: Mount Etna in Italy is doing domething rare and beautiful. "It is blowing smoke rings," reports Marcella Giulia Pace, who photographed the phenomenon on April 6th:
"A continuous jet of rings is dancing around the craters until they dissolve into the sky--a phenomenon of extreme rarity," she says.
Mount Etna has produced vortices before, but nothing like this. In April 2024 Etna "has broken all previous records," according to Boris Behncke of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Catania. Tourists are flocking to the mountain to witness the display.
The rapid-fire puffs are coming from a newly-opened vent, which is blowing rings of volcanic gas similar to how dolphins blow bubble rings in water.
Volcanic vortices and the crescent Moon over Mount Etna. Credit: Marcella Giulia Pace
The gas rings are composed of 80 percent water vapor, with the remaining 20 percent mostly made of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. It is the water vapor that gives the rings their white hue, making them resemble Gandalf-like smoke rings.
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AMBER DRAGONFLY SPACE PENDANT: This dragonfly has touched space. 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.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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