FARMERS, DID YOUR TRACTORS JUST GO CRAZY? Many modern farmers use GPS-guided tractors to plant and tend their crops. Last weekend, some of them veered off course. We've received a report of "dancing tractors" on Easter Sunday (April 20, 2025) apparently due to unusual GPS errors. The same thing happened on hundreds of farms last May during a severe geomagnetic storm. However, there was no geomagnetic storm on April 20, 2025, so we're looking for confirmaton. If you're a farmer or GPS operator and know of unusual disturbances in the past week, please let us know.
A NIGHT IN ANTARCTICA: The next time a Cannibal CME strikes Earth, try to be in Antarctica. You might see something like this:
"The sky was filled with dancing auroras and a magnificent lunar halo," reports Dr. Anand Singh of India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research. Singh is the principal investigator for space weather observations at the Maitri research station in Antarctica, and he arranged for his colleague Mohit Sharma to record the auroras on the night of April 19, 2025.
"A Cannibal CME had struck Earth on April 15th, and we were still seeing auroras fours days later," says Singh.
Cannibal CMEs are pile-ups of two or more CMEs, formed when a fast CME overtakes a slower one. They contain shock waves and intense magnetic fields that do a good job sparking geomagnetic storms . The Cannibal CME that struck on April 15th was a combination of two closely-spaced eruptions on the sun. It caused a severe geomagnetic storm on April 16th with a persistent afterglow days after the storm subsided. No place had a better view than the frozen continent.
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CONSTELLATION CAT CRYSTAL NIGHT LIGHT: It's the most far-out feline night light ever--the Constellation Cat. On March 21, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a giant helium balloon.
You can have it for $129.95. Outlined by stars in the style of an astronomical constellation, the laser-etched cat comes with an LED stand that produces a soothing glow for your bedside table. Also included: A unique greeting card shows the cat in flight and tells the story of its journey to the edge of space.
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