SpaceWeather.com Archive — Mon, Jul 22, 2024

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GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2): A halo CME is heading for Earth following yesterday's 'dark plasma eruption,' described below. Its impact this Wednesday could spark a G2-class (Moderate) geomagnetic storm with auroras in northern-tier US States. A NOAA model suggests that the CME could arrive as early as 0200 UT on July 24th. Solar flare alerts: SMS Tex t

DOUBLE DARK PLASMA ERUPTION: Two dark plumes of plasma flew into space on July 21st when a magnetic filament connected to sunspot AR3757 erupted. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast:

The plasma is dark because it is cooler and denser than the hot sun underneath. As the dense plumes traveled outward through the sun's atmosphere, they entrained even more plasma, forming the core of a coronal mass ejection (CME).

Shortly after the blast, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a halo CME leaving the sun. A NOAA model of the CME predicts it will hit Earth during the early hours of July 24th (around 0200 UT), potentially sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm. If that forecast is correct, the storm could produce photographic auroras over northern-tier US states during the night of July 23/24 in North American time zones. Solar flare alerts: SMS Tex t

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REAL MONEY FROM SPACE: On July 16, 1969, the world watched as a Saturn V rocket launched Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Moon. Exactly 55 years later, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the US Mint's limited edition Saturn V dollar coin to the stratosphere:

You can have a single coin for $49.95 or an entire unbroken roll for $249.95. No longer available from the US Mint, these rare coins flew 121,665 feet above the Sierra Nevada on July 16, 2024. One side shows the mighty Saturn V rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral; the other side features the Statue of Liberty in profile.

The students are selling space coins to support to support their cosmic ray research program. (Helium is expensive!) Each order comes with a greeting card showing the coins in flight and telling the story of their journey to the stratosphere and back again.