Atmospheric Radiation Update: Cosmic Rays Increasing from Coast to Coast in the USA

Source - Space Weather News for June 25, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION UPDATE: For years, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been using space weather balloons to monitor cosmic rays in the atmosphere above California. We previously reported that dose rates have been increasing over the Golden State, more than 13% since March 2015. Now we know the same thing is happening over New England--only more so. Balloons recently launched from the Atlantic Coast of the USA have detected even stronger and more rapidly intensifying levels of cosmic radiation. What's causing this continent-wide increase?

Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for the full story.






SIERRA SNOWPACK SEEN FROM THE STRATOSPHERE: A space weather balloon launched on June 23rd has captured remarkable spherical images of California's historic snowpack from the stratosphere. They show Sierra Nevada mountains laden with widespread snow despite an early summer heat wave that has sent temperatures shooting above 110 F at the base of the range.

Click on the image below to explore the scene as an interactive 360-degree image--or visit the Earth to Sky Calculus Facebook page.

A Big Hole in the Sun's Atmosphere faces Earth

Source - Space Weather News for Jan. 30, 2017 - http://spaceweather.com

A BIG HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: A large, canyon-shaped hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind toward Earth.  Polar geomagnetic storms are likely when the fast-moving stream arrives, probably on Feb 1st. Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for more information.

SUNSET SKY SHOW: For the next two nights, watch the southwestern sky at sunset. Mars, Venus and the crescent Moon are converging for a beautiful gathering in the evening twilight.  Visit Spaceweather.com for sky maps and photos.

Weird Upper-Atmospheric Wave Ripples across China

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 30, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

WEIRD ATMOSPHERIC WAVE RIPPLES OVER CHINA: On Nov. 24th, a deep-rippling wave at the edge of space crossed the night sky above China. Eye-witnesses saw the airglow layer split in two, and at least one photographer captured beautiful images of the event.  It might be a type of exotic wave called a "mesospheric bore."

Visit Spaceweather.com to see the photos and learn more.

UNEXPECTED SOLAR FLARES: Catching forecasters off guard, a new sunspot (AR2615) has emerged and it is crackling with M-class solar flares. Minor radio blackouts are underway on Nov. 29-30 as pulses of UV and X-radiation ionize the top of Earth's atmosphere.  This is *not* a major space weather event, but it is a break from the sun's recent deepening quiet.

NASA Mission To Study Mysterious Lunar Twilight Rays

Source - NASA Science News for Sept. 3, 2013

A NASA spacecraft slated for launch on Sept. 6 will fly to the Moon to investigate the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Researchers hope "LADEE" will solve a mystery that has been puzzling them since the days of Apollo.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/03sep_ladee/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z_oi36O8tw



License: Standard YouTube License

Big Picture Science for 09/03/12 - The Invisible In-Between

Big Picture Science - The Invisible In-Between

To need air is human. Our lungs thank us for each breath we take. But air is more than a transporter of O². It shapes our weather, keeps birds aloft and moves spores from here to there. A cubic foot of air is anything but “empty” (hot dog grease particles, anyone?).

The same goes for space (minus the hot dog grease). It’s a happening place. Discover why interstellar space is more than a whole lot o’ nothing; and what happens when the Voyager spacecraft leaves our solar system. Plus, catch a skydiver in action!

Guests:

• Mako Igarashi – Skydiving instructor, Skydive Hollister, Hollister, CA
• Rhett Allain – Physicist at Southeastern Louisiana University, blogger for Wired.com
• William Bryant Logan – Author of Air: The Restless Shaper of the World
• Robert Wagoner – Emeritus professor of physics, Stanford University
• Alex Filippenko – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley
• Ed Stone – Physicist at CalTech, former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project scientist for the Voyager mission

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/The_Invisible_In_Between

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Stellar Flare Blasts Exoplanet

Source - NASA Science News for June 28, 2012

Working in tandem, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Swift satellite have caught a distant star blasting one of its own planets with a powerful stellar flare.

The eruption stripped thousands of tons of material from the planet's atmosphere.

The full story can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28jun_alienflare/

Major Solar Flare on August 9th

Source - Space Weather News for August 9, 2011: http://spaceweather.com

X-FLARE: This morning at 0805 UT, sunspot 1263 produced an X7-class solar flare--so far the most powerful flare of new Solar Cycle 24. The brunt of the explosion was not Earth directed. Even so, a minor solar proton storm is in progress around our planet, and the flare also created waves of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere. Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and more information.

SOLAR FLARE ALERTS: Did you miss the eruption? Next time get a solar flare alert: http://spaceweathertext.com (text) or http://spaceweatherpone.com (voice).

Jupiter's Missing Stripe

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 30, 2010: http://spaceweather.com

JUPITER'S MISSING STRIPE: A disturbance in Jupiter's atmosphere thought to herald the return of the planet's missing stripe is growing rapidly and now stretches almost halfway around Jupiter's globe. It is so big, novice observers are beginning to notice it in the eyepieces of backyard telescopes. Visit http://spaceweather.com for latest images and a sky map.

This Planet Smells Funny

Source - NASA Science News for Sept. 13, 2010

An alien world in the constellation Leo is breaking the rules of giant-planet chemistry, prompting researchers to re-think the make-up of exoplanet atmospheres.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/13sep_funnyplanet/

A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Source - NASA Science News for July 15, 2010

Researchers are puzzling over a sharper-than-expected collapse of Earth's upper atmosphere during the deep solar minimum of 2008-09.

FULL STORY at: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/15jul_thermosphere/

NASA Mission to Study the Moon's Fragile Atmosphere

Source NASA Science News for October 23, 2009

NASA is planning a mission to study the Moon's fragile atmosphere--before it's too late.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/23oct_ladee.htm?list894285

Kepler Detects an Exoplanet Atmosphere

Source - NASA Science News for August 6, 2009

NASA's new planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the changing phases and atmosphere of a planet a thousand light years away.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/06aug_kepler2.htm?list894285

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