BLUE GHOST ON THE MOON: The Blue Ghost lunar lander is about to touch down on the Moon. Firefly Aerospace will livestream the landing attempt on its YouTube page starting at 2:20 a.m. ET, Sunday, March 2, about 75 minutes before Blue Ghost is scheduled to land in Mare Crisium. This mission is important to space weather because Blue Ghost carries an X-ray telescope named "LEXI," which will image Earth's magnetosphere from the lunar surface.
MARCH IS THE BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR FOR AURORAS: Did you know that March is the best month of the year for auroras? It's true. A 75-year study by retired NASA solar physicist David Hathaway shows that March has more geomagnetically active days than any other month of the year. (October is a close second.)
According to historical records, geomagnetic disturbances are almost twice as likely in spring and fall vs. winter and summer. This is due to the Russell-McPherron effect. In short, cracks tend to form in Earth's magnetosphere during weeks around equinoxes, allowing solar wind to spark Northern Lights. Happy March! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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NOAA'S CORONAGRAPH JUST SAW THE NEW MOON: New Moons are supposed to be black and invisible. NOAA's CCOR-1 coronagraph just saw it as clear as day. In this 3 hour movie recorded on Feb. 28th, the New Moon approaches the sun with its dark terrain 100% lit by Earthshine:
Coronagraphs are instruments that block the sun to create an artificial eclipse. Space weather forecasters to use them to monitor the sun for CMEs that might be heading for Earth. Coronagraphs can also show celestial bodies near the sun such as planets and suicide comets that would otherwise be lost in the glare.
CCOR-1 is new coronagraph just now being activated onboard NOAA's GOES-19 weather satellite. It is unique--the first coronagraph to fly in geostationary orbit. This places it deep inside the Moon's orbit and gives it a view of the Moon unavailable to previous coronagraphs like the ones on SOHO.
In the movie, the Moon appears to be full. That's entirely due to sunlight reflected from Earth. In the full-length movie, we can see that that Earthshine is not constant. During the movie, sunrise over the Western hemisphere dynamically increases Earthshine so much that some of the images are saturated.
This display is about to become a regular occurance. The next New Moon is March 29th. Mark your calendar and check the CCOR-1 web site.
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CELTIC LOVE KNOT MOONSTONE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from the edge of space. On Jan 27th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this moonstone wrapped in a hand-crafted sterling silver Celtic love knot 35.1 km (115,158 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $149.95. The pendant comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space jewelry to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Get yours now!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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