AIRCRAFT TRACKING DISRUPTED: A new study published in Space Weather suggests that flying during an extreme solar storm may not be a great idea. During the historic storms of May 10-13, 2024, disturbances in Earth's ionosphere disrupted European aircraft tracking systems. Analyzing more than 700 million ADS-B messages from over 18,000 aircraft, researchers found a clear increase in data gaps and sudden position "jumps," with some planes briefly appearing hundreds of kilometers from their true locations. Read the original research here
YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO CLICK ON THIS IMAGE: The white-light sun is a blinding ball of featureless light. But, if you filter the light, and look only at the narrow range of wavelengths emitted by hydrogen, the true sun is revealed. This morning in Cannes, France, amateur astronomer Francois Rouviere used a spectroheliograph to do just that, and here is what he saw::
"I combined 3 high-resolution images to create this mosaic of the full disk," says Rouviere. Click here for the full resolution--and be sure to view it on a desktop monitor to enjoy the glorious detail.
A spectroheliograph is a special telescope which can photograph the sun at a single narrow wavelength of light--in this case, the "H-alpha" wavelength emitted by solar hydrogen. Rouviere's spectroheliograph image reveals a large number of sunspots. They don't look black, however. Most of the sunspots are located beneath bright white clouds of hydrogen. These clouds are trapped by the sunspot magnetic fields and energized by the underlying dark cores.
There are also a number of dark filaments--magnetic tubes filled with dense hydrogen snaking across the solar disk. These filaments can erupt to produce solar flares and CMEs much like sunspots do; they significantly boost the odds of solar activity. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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COFFEE TASTES BETTER IN A CUP FROM SPACE: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Shop the Earth to Sky Store! It's filled with items that have visited the edge of space onboard cosmic ray research balloons:
Earth to Sky gifts have flown above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth after the balloon explodes. Even Amazon doesn't carry items this far out. And, best of all, all sales support student science projects and STEM education.
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All sales support hands-on STEM education
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