CME IMPACT SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A CME hit Earth on Aug 2nd (1229 UTC), sparking a G2-class geomagnetic storm. The storm is over now, but there is a chance it could flare up again on Aug. 3rd as Earth moves through the CME's magnetized wake. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
RED SPRITES AND CIRRUS CLOUDS: This photo is not what it seems. On July 31st, Frankie Lucena pointed his camera toward a Caribbean thunderstorm and caught these red sprites dangling from a cirrus cloud:
"But sprites do not come from cirrus clouds," says Lucena. He should know. He has photographed hundreds of them from his home in Puerto Rico.
The real source of these sprites was a thunderstorm ~150 miles south of the island. Here's a satellite map. Within that tropical convective cell, a exceptionally strong -152.7 kA lightning bolt launched the red tendrils almost 90 km high. For context, that's about five times the current of an ordinary bolt.
The low-hanging cirrus clouds simply got in the way. They were directly in front of Lucena's camera, but did not block the view. These sprites were so bright they shined through the obstruction.
Also visible behind the cirrus is a broad red disk. This is probably an "ELVE"-- a rare species of sprite discovered in 1990 by cameras onboard the space shuttle. Lucena's -152.7 kA lightning bolt was so strong, it generated an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The ELVE marks the spot where the EMP hit Earth's ionosphere.
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VOYAGER GOLDEN RECORD: Carl Sagan himself picked the music and organized the tracks. We're talking about The Voyager Golden Record. On Oct. 31, 2023, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this replica to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $99.95. The 3-inch aluminum disk is imprinted with instructions intended for extraterrestrials, telling them how to play the phonograph now sailing through interstellar space onboard NASA's Voyager probes. Having touched the edge of space, it's the closest thing on Earth to an actual Golden Record.
The students are selling these unique ornaments to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the ornament in flight and extra materials decoding the markings on the disk.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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