SpaceWeather.com Archive — Mon, Aug 12, 2024

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THE SEVERE STORM IS SUBSIDING: Multiple CMEs hit Earth over the weekend, sparking a very strong geomagnetic storm. For a while on Aug 12th, storm levels hit category G4 (Severe), briefly putting it on par with the historic May 10th superstorm. The storm is subsiding now, but it's not over:

Moderate (G2) to strong (G3) geomagnetic activity is expected to continue for the next 12 hours, potentially allowing mid-latitude photographers to capture auroras through the night of Aug. 12-13.

During the strong phase of the storm on Aug. 11-12, auroras were spotted in more than 30 US states as far south as Texas, Mississippi, Arizona, Colorado and California. The lowest latitude naked-eye sighting so far is +32 N.

The light show occured during the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Todd Bush caught at least half a dozen meteors during his aurora exposure:

"Surprise, Surprise! Red auroras were shimmering on the northern horizon - down South y'all," says Bush. "The photo shows Perseid meteors that appeared after 1am during the peak of our aurora activity. There were some great outbursts from midnight all the way to dawn."

Browse the realtime aurora photo gallery for the latest submissions from around the world!

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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GLOW-IN-THE-DARK AURORA PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Glow-in-the-Dark Aurora Pendant. On July 8, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have it for $99.95. For 3 hours, the necklace floated 106,444 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California while radiation sensors inside the balloon's payload gathered data for the students' cosmic ray monitoring project. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and explaining the Earth to Sky Calculus radiation experiment.

The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space jewelry to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now!