GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2): Geomagnetic storms are likely on April 16th when a pair of closely-spaced CMEs is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. NOAA forecasters say storm levels could reach category G2 with auroras across Canada and northern-tier US States. The CMEs were hurled toward Earth by a double eruption on the sun; see below. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
A DOUBLE ERUPTION ON THE SUN: Explosions on the sun do *not* require sunspots. Spotless explosions occured twice over the weekend when these two magnetic filaments lifted off the sun:
Magnetic filaments are tubes of dense plasma held above the sun's surface by magnetic forces. The two pictured above are about 400,000 km long--longer than the distance between Earth and the Moon. These massive structures can erupt when their magnetic underpinnings become unstable. That happened twice in quick succession on April 12th and 13th--a rare double blast.
Fragments of the exploding filaments ripped through the sun's atmosphere to produce two CMEs, now heading for Earth. A one-two punch from these CMEs could spark a G2-class geomagnetic storm on April 16th. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
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TOMATO SEEDS FROM SPACE: Spring has arrived, which means it's time to plant your space garden. These tomato seeds have flown to the edge of space onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have a full packet for $39.95. Space seeds make a great DIY science project. During the flight, they spent more than 3 hours floating through the stratosphere, exposed to temperatures as low as -62 C and cosmic ray fluxes 100x Earth-normal. Each space-flown packet comes with an identical control packet, which remained on Earth during the flight. Plant them side by side to discover the difference space travel makes.
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