CME IMPACT EXPECTED THIS WEEK: A minor but well-aimed CME is on course to hit Earth. ETA: Aug. 7th. If NOAA forecast models are correct, the impact could spark a G1-class geomagnetic storm with high-latitude auroras. CME Impact Alerts: SMS Text.
THE SUN'S SURFACE IS WEIRDER THAN YOU THOUGHT: A giant telescope in Hawaii just saw something unprecedented on the sun. The surface of our star, it turns out, is covered with tiny ripples and whirlpools that previous telescopes could not see. The images were published Aug. 5th in the journal Nature:
Solar physicists have long suspected these swirls exist, but they were simply too small to see. The Inouye Solar Telescope, the world's largest with a 4-meter mirror atop Haleakalā on Maui, finally has the resolution to catch them.
The Vermont-sized whirlpools are caused by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. Van Gogh famously painted them in Starry Night.
Here on Earth, Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities make ocean waves curl when wind blows across water. On the sun, the "wind" is plasma. Where magnetized plasma and non-magnetized plasma slide past one another at different speeds, the boundary between them rolls up into vortices.
This could help solve the long-standing puzzle of where solar flares get their power. These explosions are driven by magnetic energy. The newfound whirlpools build up that energy, creating little reservoirs of power for flares and CMEs.
Even if you don't believe it or understand it you will love the movies. Watch them here.
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"SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH": This is a great gift for Douglas Adams fans: The sterling silver "So long, and thanks for all the fish" pendant. On June 20th, these cetaceans flew 104,164 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California onboard a cosmic ray balloon.:
You can have it for $142.95. The dolphins are leaping around a heart-shaped moonstone, suspended from a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain. They come with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight, and telling the story of their trip to the edge of space and back again.
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