MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORMS UNDERWAY: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are underway on Aug. 19th as Earth enters a fast-moving stream of solar wind. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after local nightfall. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
A PLASMA TORNADO ON THE SUN: This week, astronomers around the world have been monitoring a twister unraveling above the sun's surface. It isn’t a storm of wind and rain, but a plasma tornado--a column of hot gas spiraling thousands of kilometers high:
David Wilson captured this video on Aug. 17th from his backyard observatory in Inverness, Scotland. "I inserted an image of the Earth-moon system for scale," he says. "This tornado is big enough to swallow our entire planet!"
Unlike tornadoes on Earth, which are caused by pressure differences in the atmosphere, tornadoes on the sun are sculpted by magnetic fields, which grab clouds of plasma and whip them around. Wind speeds in this monster are topping 100,000 mph. If we rated it on the Fujita scale, it would be a F300. For comparison, the deadliest tornadoes on Earth are a "mere" F5.
The plasma is still spinning today. If you have a solar telescope, take a look!
more images: from Maximilian-Vlad Teodorescu of the Institute of Space Science in Magurele, Romania; from Franco Mere of Milano, Italy; from Frank J Melillo of Holtsville, NY
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AMBER DRAGONFLY SPACE PENDANT: This dragonfly has touched space. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, 109,228 feet above California's Sierra Nevada:
You can have it for $179.95. Made of genuine Baltic Amber with a sterling silver exoskeleton, the pendant measures 1 1/4 inch and comes with a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain. The wings of the dragonfly include four pieces of natural amber colored Cognac, Olive Green and Honey Yellow.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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