AIRCRAFT TRACKING DISRUPTED: A new study published in Space Weather suggests that flying during an extreme geomagnetic 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
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE AND CME (UPDATED): Sunspot 4317 was not considered to be a threat for flares--but it erupted anyway. On Dec. 28th (2239 UTC), the sunspot produced an M4-class solar flare shown here in a movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
Images from NOAA's CCOR-1 coronagraph onboard GOES-19 confirm that the explosion hurled a CME into space. A model from NASA suggests it has an Earth-directed component that will reach our planet on Jan. 1st, potentially sparking the first Arctic auroras of the New Year. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
more images: from Eliot Herman of Tucson AZ
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THE COLORS OF VEGA: Astronomers have long known that Vega is a blue-white star. Yet when Paolo Bardelli looked at it yesterday from Sumirago (Varese), Italy, he saw many other colors as well:
"On Dec. 28th, I saw a light flashing low on the horizon and thought it was the usual plane, but in reality it was Vega, in a kaleidoscope of colors," says Bardelli. "I decided to document the phenomenon, allowing the star to drift across the field of view of my Canon 6D for 4 seconds. The resulting streak was stretched vertically with Photoshop without affecting the vividness or color saturation. Wow!"
Astronomers call this phenomenon "scintillation." It is caused by thermal irregularities in Earth's atmosphere. As packets of relatively warm and cool air drift in front of a star, the star's light is refracted into rainbow colors--especially near the horizon where starlight must pass through many turbulent irregularities to reach the observer.
Step outside this evening and look for Vega setting near the northwestern horizon. The lower it gets, the more it scintillates. Enjoy the show!
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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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