MOON-VENUS CONJUNCTION TONIGHT: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. The 4% crescent Moon is in conjunction with Venus. Try to catch them before the sky fades completely black. Venus-Moon conjunctions framed by twilight blue are out of this world. Sky map.
GREEN BLOBS AND RED ARCS: Last night, a CIR (co-rotating interaction region) hit Earth's magnetic field, sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm. Some very unusual auroras appeared. Ian Griffin photographed the siaplay from Middlemarch, Otago, New Zealand:
"From my paddock near Middlemarch, the southern sky delivered something rather special on April 18th," says Griffin. "At dusk a clean green auroral arc lifted along the horizon. Within minutes it grew into tall curtains, pink and crimson rays shifting and reforming in that familiar, restless way. Cutting across the display sat a narrow, deep red band that barely moved while everything else danced. It gave the sky a layered, almost architectural feel."
These are rare auroras from Earth's ring current system. Yes, Earth has rings. They are made of electricity–a donut-shaped circuit carrying millions of amps around our planet. Sometimes these rings create their own lights.
The red band is a Stable Auroral Red Arc--the red glow of heat leaking from the ring current onto Earth's upper atmosphere. The green blobs are also related to the ring current. They appear when the ring current releases protons into the upper atmosphere. For years, Earth-orbiting satellites have seen these protons on their way down, although we still don't know why they create such distinctive blobs.
more images: from Marybeth Kiczenski of Moab, Utah; from Todd Bender of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah; from John David McKinnon of Fort Smith/Tthebacha, Northwest Territories, Canada; from Jessica Fridrich of Binghamton, New York;
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
MOTHER'S LOVE IRON SCULPTURE: Mother's Day is coming soon. Here's a gift she'll never forget: The Mother's Love Iron Sculpture. On Nov. 13, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $159.95. Handmade from iron, the sculpture depicts a mother embracing her daughter--in this case more than 100,000 feet above Earth. The gift-boxed figurine includes a unique keepsake card showing the sculpture at the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Inside, the card tells the story of the flight and certifies that this gift has been to the edge of space--and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter