THE CME HAS ARRIVED; G2 STORM IN PROGRESS: Arriving hours earlier than expected, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field on April 15th (1700 UTC), and a moderately-strong G2-class geomagnetic storm is underway as a result of the impact. It's too soon to say whether this is just the first of two expected CMEs -- or perhaps a cannibal combination. NOAA forecasters say the storm could intensify to category G3 (Strong) in the hours ahead, depending on the strength and orientation of magnetic fields in the CME's wake. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
These data from NOAA's DSCOVR satellite show how the CME's arrival altered Earth's solar wind environment:
The density of solar wind plasma abruptly jumped by a factor of almost ten. This means the CME delivered a relatively heavy blow to Earth's magnetosphere. Stay tuned for updates as Earth's moves deeper into the CME's wake.
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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 $49.95. 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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