AURORAS SEEN FROM THE STRATOSPHERE: A solar wind stream hit Earth yesterday--and the timing couldn't have been better. NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) had just taken off from New Zealand. Astronomers onboard the specially modified Boeing 747 got an eyeful of rare auroral forms as they skimmed the bottom of the stratosphere over the Southern Ocean. Visit Spaceweather.com for the full story.
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Above: Flying high above the clouds, astronomer Ian Griffin photographed an outburst of auroras from NASA's SOFIA aircraft on July 10th. [more]
