


Is the most advanced solar observatory ever. government space weather bureauįirst place to look for information about sundogs, Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.ĭata points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. A number of controversial studies ( #1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors.

Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. 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. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.Īll sales support hands-on STEM education The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Engraved with the words "I love you always and forever", this 18K gold-plated pendant has a heart-shaped citrine crystal in the middle surrounded by a ring of glittering cubic zirconia nuggets. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon: "ALWAYS AND FOREVER" SPACE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Always and Forever Space Pendent. If current trends continue, there could be an X-flare, too. The flares will become increasingly geoeffective as the sunspots turn toward Earth this weekend. On the right is AR3311, which has produced everything else. On the left is AR3310, which produced a powerful M9.6 flare on May 16th. The source of these flares is a pair of sunspots rotating over the sun's eastern limb: Ham radio operators may notice fluctuating loss of signal at frequencies below 20 MHz.
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Pulses of UV radiation are ionizing the top of Earth's atmosphere, creating a rolling series of shortwave radio blackouts around all longitudes of our planet. Earth-orbiting satellites are detecting an almost non-stop fusillade of M-class flares so closely-spaced they overlap in time: INTENSIFYING SOLAR ACTIVITY: By the time you finish reading this, the sun will have probably flared again. The impact could produce minor G1-class geomagnetic storms. It left the sun May 17th, propelled by an erupting filament of magnetism in the sun's southern hemisphere. GLANCING-BLOW CME: NOAA forecasters say that a CME might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on May 21st. 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 AR3310 poses a threat for X-class solar flares.
