HOW LOW CAN AURORAS GO? Imagine Northern Lights blazing not over the Arctic Circle, but directly overhead in places like Miami, Havana, or Taipei. A new scientific study warns that this spectacular vision is a real possibility. By re-examining the Carrington Event and other superstorms, researchers found that auroras can travel surprisingly far south, threatening low-latitude power systems previously thought to be safe from geomagnetic currents. Read the original research here.
AURORAS AND NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: Last night in Calgary, Alberta, nature photographer Harlan Thomas saw his first noctilucent clouds (NLCs) of the season. They appeared directly beneath a shimmering curtain of green auroras:
"There's nothing quite like seeing the aurora borealis and noctilucent clouds at the same time," says Thomas. "It's the perfect combination."
The auroras were caused by a glancing blow from a CME--a brief display that quickly faded. The NLCs, however, are here to stay for the summer.
NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. Floating at the edge of space about 83 km high, they form when summertime wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. The season for bright naked-eye NLCs typically stretches from June through August, so stay tuned for more displays of electric-blue.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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ETRUSCAN VASE SUNSET MIRAGE: The Mediterranean sun turned into a piece of classical art this week. On June 8th, photographer Teresa Molinaro was watching the sunset from the coast of Sicily. The sun didn’t slip smoothly beneath the sea—instead, it morphed into a shape long described by poets and scientists as the "Etruscan vase."
Researchers call this a "mock mirage." It's caused by temperature inversions in the atmosphere. Alternating blankets of warm and cold air form atmospheric ducts, which slice the sun into a layer-cake of images. Sometimes the stack of images resembles this kind of vase.
Jules Verne was the first to draw attention to the mirage. In his popular 1866 novel, The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, he wrote: "The deformation of the disk, modified by refraction, gradually made itself felt; it widened to the detriment of its vertical diameter, and resembled the shape of an Etruscan vase."
"It was a beautiful view!" says Molinaro.
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SOLAR SYSTEM STUD EARRINGS: These earrings have flown to the edge of space--and all eight planets are included! On May 21, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the Solar System Stud Earrings to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight, they floated 104,655 feet high:
You can have the complete set for $149.95. Only Pluto is omitted from the collection; the dwarf planet was too small for human earlobes. The earrings come with a greeting card showing the studs in flight and telling the story of their journey to the stratosphere and back again.
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Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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