ECHO LAKE BALLOON STILL MISSING: Readers keep asking if we found our long-lost Earth to Sky cosmic ray balloon near Echo Lake. The answer is no. A whole weekend of searching icy slopes above the high Sierra lake failed to turn up the payload, which crash-landed in Oct. 2022. A mega-winter buried it under as much as 50 feet of snow, and three years later we’re still digging. This was attempt #12. Maybe 13 will be the charm. Thanks for asking!
SURPRISE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: No CME? No problem. On Sept. 28–29, auroras erupted around the Arctic Circle even though no solar storm was headed for Earth. "It looked like a CME impact," says Karsten Berger, who watched purple curtains rain down over Yellowknife, Canada.
"The auroras were visible as soon as the sun set on Sept. 28th and never stopped," she says. "At first, they glowed purple and blue, then shifted to green, red, and orange."
What happened? It's the "Russell-McPherron effect." During weeks around equinoxes, the magnetic field of the sun can connect to the magnetic field of Earth, a linkage that allows solar wind to enter Earth's magnetosphere. That connection alone can power dazzling auroras--no CME required.
This was a G1-class event, with auroras photographed as far south as DeKalb, Illinois. The Russell-McPherron connection is still active, so more auroras are possible during the night of Sept. 29-30. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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WHAT MADE THIS GREEN FLASH BLUE? Last week in Gran Canaria, Marina Prol aimed her camera at the setting sun, hoping for a green flash. She caught one--but it was blue.
"I caught the elusive blue flash!" says Prol.
Green flashes and blue flashes are formed in the same way. A mirage magnifies tiny differences in the atmospheric refraction of red, green and blue light, creating a little explosion of color as the sun sets.
Because of their common origin, the two types of flashes often occur side-by-side. Blue flashes, however, can be very hard to see. They are scattered into oblivion by the same molecules and aerosols that create blue skies.
"On Sept. 26th, our air was very clear with few aerosols and the blue flash emerged," says Prol.
One night later, she repeated the experiment with different results:
"The atmosphere was no longer as clear, and the green flash dominated," Prol says.
Green or blue, it's a great way to end the day.
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ALIEN RANSOM CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT: You can't buy this on Amazon. The Alien Ransom Christmas Ornament is only available from the Earth to Sky Store. On Sept. 15, 2025, it flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $129.95. Think of it as Santa's ransom :) Hand-sculpted in the USA, this humorous ornament is intricately detailed, from the alien pilot to Santa's boots. Durable polyresin construction makes it lightweight enough to hang on any tree but sturdy enough to last for many Christmases to come.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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