A GEOMAGNETIC STORM IS BREWIING: Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras tonight. The interplanetary magnetic field near Earth is fluttering south. This could open a crack in Earth's magnetosphere, allowing solar wind to enter and spark polar auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
FALCON 9 RE-ENTRY OVER EUROPE: The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket plunged into Earth' atmosphere earlier today (Feb. 19th @ 345 UTC) producing a spectacular light show over Europe. A meteor camera operated by André Knoeffel in Brandenburg, Germany, recorded the disintegrating debris:
Early risers in the Netherlands, UK, Germany and Denmark saw the fragmenting rocket body glide slowly across the sky. The rocket should have reentered almost 3 weeks ago, just after Feb. 1st when it propelled a group of internet satellites (Starlink group 11-4) into Earth orbit. It failed to deorbit, however, and instead came down this morning in an uncontrolled fashion.
Satellite expert Marco Langbroek reports that "a possible piece of debris has been found at Komorniki near Poznan in Poland." Stay tuned for updates.
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MID-LATITUDE AURORA SURPRISE: The forecast did not call for this. Last night, auroras spilled out of the Arctic Circle and appeared in multiple US states. "it was magical" says Jessica Fridrich, who photographed the display from Binghamton, New York:
"The planetary K-index was only 4, but this beautiful dance on the northern horizon from latitude +42N made me smile," she says.
Aaron Watson was smiling in Colorado, too, as he photographed the lights even farther south: +39N. "They lasted for about 20 minutes before the clouds rolled in over the West Elk Mountains," he says.
The cause of the display may have been a CME passing close to Earth during the late hours of Feb. 18th. We predicted that part. The subsequent mid-latitude auroras, however, were a surprise. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
more images: from John David McKinnon of Hay River, NWT, Canada; from Geir T. Birkeland Øye of Ørsta, Norway; from Eli Fluharty of Fairbanks AK; from Marianne Bergli of Kilpisjervi, Finland;
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THE MILKY WAY IN A CRYSTAL BALL: Are you looking for a big gift? How about the entire Milky Way? The students of Earth to Sky Calculus have launched our own galaxy to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is 113,517 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $119.95. The galaxy is laser etched inside a 60 mm crystal sphere. You can turn it in your hands, inspecting the spiral star system from any angle. The gift-boxed sphere comes with a greeting card showing the item 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
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