It looks like an aurora, but it’s not. Last night in Rhode Island, a green blob appeared just above the treeline of North Kingstown:
Green blob appears suddenly over Rhode Island. Picture: Ronald Zincone on May 16, 2021 “It only lasted a few seconds,” says photographer Ronald Zincone, “but it was very bright green.”
What was that strange sky phenomenon over Rhode Island? This is a cloud of barium vapors released by a Black Brant sounding rocket, launched at 8:44 pm EDT on May 16th from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Researchers from the University of Alaska are doing an experiment called KiNET-X.
Its purpose is to solve a longstanding mystery about auroras. Electrons in the solar wind are low energy; yet electrons that make auroras have high energy. How are they energized?
Why barium?......