SURPRISE GEOMAGNETIC STORM... This was not in the forecast. An unexpected G2-class geomagnetic storm occured during the early hours of May 17th, sparked by the glancing blow of a CME. Originally expected to miss Earth, the CME was launched on May 12th by an erupting magnetic filament in the sun's northern hemisphere. The ejecta was wider than models predicted, and some of the debris struck Earth after a 4-day tansit from the sun. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
...AND A CHINESE ROCKET PLUME: During the storm, auroras appeared over more than a dozen US states as far south as New Mexico. There was also something more. A white plume bisected the sky, puzzling observers who at first thought it might be a strange form of STEVE. Mike Lewinski photographed the display from Crestone, Colorado:
"The aurora was rippling low on the northern horizon when suddenly a bright streak of light, reminiscent of a rocket re-entry, appeared high in the sky and flowed down to the horizon," Lewinski says.
This plume was not an aurora, and it was not STEVE. We believe it is related to a rocket launch in China. About an hour before the plume appeared (5:39 UTC), Chinese launch startup Landspace launched the ZhuQue-2E rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (4:12 UTC). It carried 6 satellites to orbit including a synthetic aperture radar and multiple space science spacecraft. The white streak may have been a de-orbit burn, or perhaps a circularization burn for the deploying satellites.
ZhuQue-2E is a new type of rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane. This "methalox" technology was developed by Landspace, and their ZhuQue-2 series of methane rockets are the first to reach orbit ahead of other companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX. Methalox offers several advantages over traditional rocket fuels like kerosene and hydrogen. Methane is more easily stored, burns cleaner, and can be produced on Mars.
more images: from Amber Simons of Jackson, Idaho; from Dan Bush of Albany, Missouri; from Jay Shaffer of Taos county, New Mexico; from Troy Bryan of Scottsbluff, Nebraska; from Robert Atwood of Vernal, Utah; from Tyler Anderson of Spokane, WA; from Thomas Petermann of Arches National Park, Utah; from Colleen Weisert of Custer County, SD
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JALAPEñO PEPPERS FROM SPACE: These are the first Jalapeño seeds ever flown to the edge of space. On May 14, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched them onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. They spent 3 hours in the stratosphere exposed to Mars-like temperatures (-62 C) and cosmic rays:
You can have them for $99.95. Also included are packets of Cayenne, Cubanelle, Orange Habanero ... 10 varieties in all. These seeds make a great DIY science project. Each space-flown packet of seeds 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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