Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called " Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low: Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distanceīetween Earth and the Moon. It makes a great Father's Day gift for Trekkie dads!Īll sales support hands-on STEM education The flask comes with a greeting card showing itself in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. It was still cold to the touch when students retrieved it 30 minutes after landing in Pine Creek Canyon in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Bishop CA. During the flight, the flask experienced temperatures as low as -59 C. Inscribed with the words "To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before," the sterling silver container flew to the stratosphere on June 4, 2023, onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon: More images: from Krzysztof Spera of Warsaw, Poland from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna Sweden from Pentti Arpalahti of Helsinki, Finland from Roberts Lazdins of Rude, Latvia from Andy Stables of Milovaig, Glendale, Isle of Skye įAR OUT FATHER'S DAY GIFT: If Capt. If you see an NLC, submit your photo here. The clouds tend to brighten and become most widespread around the summer solstice, with sightings in recent years as far south as Spain and southern California. Noctilucent cloud season typically runs from June to August. Last night's sightings are just the beginning. In only 3 days ( May 26, May 27, May 28), NOAA-21 saw cloud counts increase from 14 to 104 as they drifted south toward Europe.
From there, the clouds multiply and spread outward. NLCs always form first over the poles where temperatures are coldest-a necessity for making water molecules stick to meteoroids. Image credit: Matt DeLand // NOAA-21 OMPS LP instrument In this 3 day animation, blue dots mark the location of clouds deep inside the Arctic Circle: The NOAA-21 satellite saw them first on May 26th. At altitudes greater than 80 km, the water crystallizes around disintegrated meteoroids, forming beautiful electric-blue structures.Īlthough these are the first NLCs seen from the ground, Earth-orbiting satellites have been monitoring them for more than a week. They form every year in summer when wisps of sunwarmed water vapor rise up to the edge of space. "These luminous night clouds appeared for the first time over Denmark this summer," says Jørgensen. Valther Jørgensen sends this picture from Djursland, Denmark: "They're back with a bang!' says Arnim Berhorst who saw the electric-blue clouds over Bergen, Norway-one of at least seven European countries where they were observed last night.
The summer season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) has begun. A NASA model suggests a glancing blow on June 7th (NOAA models say June 8th), possibly causing G1-class geomagnetic storms. The eruption hurled a CME into space and possibly toward Earth. Yesterday, June 4th, a magnetic filament erupted from the sun's southern hemisphere: movie. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth are slowly declining-a result of the yin-yang relationship between the solar cycle and cosmic rays.
Credit: SDO/HMIĬosmic Rays Solar Cycle 25 is intensifying, and this is reflected in the number of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. Sunspot AR3323 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares.
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