![]() ![]() In what appears to be a historic first, a chicken sandwich was successfully carried to the edge of space today aboard a high-altitude balloon. (0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5) You need to be a registered member to rate this post. Solar wind speed: 374.5 km/sec density: 18.4 protons/cm 3 more data:, Updated: Today at 1832 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: A4 1417 UT Jan24 24-hr: A4 0048 UT Jan24| Updated: Today at: 1800 UT Daily Sun: 24 Jan 18 The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SDO/HMI Sunspot number: 0 Updated 24 Jan 2018 Spotless Days Current Stretch: 4 days 2018 total: 11 days (46%) 2017 total: 104 days (28%) 2016 total: 32 days (9%) 2015 total: 0 days (0%) 2014 total: 1 day (. Switch to:,,, Credit: NOAA/Ovation Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 3 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet| Interplanetary Mag. Field B total: 9.1 nT B z: 4.9 nT north more data:, Updated: Today at 1831 UT Coronal Holes: 23 Jan 18 There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA Noctilucent Clouds Our connection with NASA's AIM spacecraft has been restored! New images from AIM show that the southern season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) is underway. Come back to this spot every day to see AIM's 'daily daisy,' which reveals the dance of electric-blue NLCs around the Antarctic Circle. ALL QUIET (FOR NOW): Earth is exiting a stream of fast-moving solar wind that caused on Jan. 21st and 22nd. As the pressure of the solar wind subsides, Earth's magnetic field is quieting. No geomagnetic storms are expected for the next three days, at least. BLUE MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Wednesday, Jan. 31st, there's going to be a 'Blue Moon'–the second full Moon in a calendar month. People who go outside to look may see a different hue: bright orange. This Blue Moon is going to be eclipsed, swallowed by copper-colored shadow of Earth for more than an hour. The eclipse will be visible from Asia, Australia, and most of North America:. Eclipse time tables:,,,,,. Credit: Larry Koehn. The bright orange color of the eclipse may be chalked up to volcanic activity–or rather, lack thereof. Atmospheric scientist Richard Keen from the University of Colorado explains: 'During a lunar eclipse, most of the light illuminating the Moon passes through Earth's stratosphere where it is reddened by scattering,' he says. 'If the stratosphere is loaded with dust from volcanic eruptions, the eclipse will be dark. The cataclysmic explosion of Tambora in 1815, for instance, turned the Moon into a dark, starless hole in sky during two subsequent eclipses.' But Earth is experiencing a bit of a volcanic lull. We haven't had a major volcanic blast since 1991 when Mt Pinatubo awoke from a 500 year slumber and sprayed ten billion cubic meters of ash, rock and debris into Earth's atmosphere. Recent eruptions have been puny by comparison and have failed to make a dent on the stratosphere. To Keen, the interregnum means one thing: 'This eclipse is going to be bright and beautiful.' From ' by R. Keen Keen studies lunar eclipses because of what they can tell us about Earth's energy balance. A transparent stratosphere 'lets the sunshine in' and actually helps warm the Earth below. 'The indicates a clear stratosphere has contributed about 0.2 degrees to warming since the 1980s.' Pinatubo finished a 110-year episode of frequent major eruptions that began with Krakatau in 1883,' he says. 'Since then, lunar eclipses have been relatively bright, and the Jan. 31st eclipse should be no exception.' In the USA, the best time to look is during the hours before sunrise.: The Moon makes first contact with the core of Earth's shadow at 3:48 am Pacific Time, kicking off the partial eclipse. Totality begins at 4:52 am PST as Earth's shadow engulfs the lunar disk for more than an hour. 'Maximum orange' is expected around 5:30 am PST. Easternmost parts of the USA will miss totality altogether.
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