News of the Imbalance

Best of the Blog - Space Weather

Don't miss the Joyfire Tour and following sections,
The sun, Joyfire Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) Slideshow,
Space Weather & Extreme Space Weather

Menu Older

Space Weather: Its impact on Earth & Implications for business

Lloyd's of London is the world's leading insurance market providing specialist insurance services to businesses in over 200 countries and territories. They state: "A major space weather event in the approaching solar maximum could cause widespread disruption for unprepared businesses. Lloyd's 360 Space Weather Report Produced by Lloyd's and RAL Space, aims to increase awareness of space weather as a global risk." Click report cover image icon for executive summary only. Download full Lloyd's Report, in .pdf format, link below: Space Weather, Its impact on Earth & Implications for business Lloyd's, November 2010.

Twelve to eighteen hours after the initial flare, a massive CME will approach the Earth. If a solar wind monitor upwind of Earth survives the initial energetic particle storm, it will detect the on-coming CME and indicate its potential to trigger an extreme geomagnetic storm. At this point, SWPC will issue a G5 warning, with 30-60 minutes of lead time. The societal consequences, if any, after the CME impacts the Earth remains to be determined.

Update

Best of the Blog - Space Weather Archives

Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States of America on July 9, 1962, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency (which became the Defense Nuclear Agency in 1971). [...]

On 9 July 1962, at 09:00:09 Coordinated Universal Time, (which was 8 July, Honolulu time, at nine seconds after 11 p.m.), the Starfish Prime test was successfully detonated at an altitude of 400 kilometres (250 mi). [...]

Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements. The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP-damaged microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands.[4]

While some of the energetic beta particles followed the Earth's magnetic field and illuminated the sky, other high-energy electrons became trapped and formed radiation belts around the earth. There was much uncertainty and debate about the composition, magnitude and potential adverse effects from this trapped radiation after the detonation. The weaponeers became quite worried when three satellites in low earth orbit were disabled. These man-made radiation belts eventually crippled one-third of all satellites in low earth orbit. Seven satellites failed over the months following the test as radiation damaged their solar arrays or electronics, including the first commercial relay communication satellite, Telstar.[10][11] Detectors on Telstar, TRAAC, Injun, and Ariel 1 were used to measure distribution of the radiation produced by the tests.[12]

Talk:Starfish Prime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

About the Show

Radio waves produced during solar flare eruptions on the Sun can cripple the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other communication technologies here on Earth, scientists say. [...]

This solar radio bursts occurred during the solar minimum, yet produced as much as 10 times more radio noise than the previous record," said Dale Gary, a physicist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. "This was enough to swamp GPS receivers over the entire sunlit side of Earth."

The scientists predict that larger solar radio bursts, expected during heightened periods of solar activity, called the solar maximum, will disrupt GPS receiver operations even further.

"The size and timing of this burst were completely unexpected and the largest ever detected," said Anthea Coster of the MIT Haystack Observatory. "We do not know how often we can expect solar radio bursts of this size or even larger."

Solar Radio Bursts Could Cripple GPS
Space.com, 4th April 2007

2012-05-09 13:58 UTC Increased Activity Looming

NOAA Region 1476, now poised just to the east of center on the solar disk, produced an impulsive R1(Minor) Radio Blackout at 1232 UTC (8:32 EDT) today. The region is quite prominent, although just one-third in area of the large regions of the Halloween Storms in 2003, and exhibits a slight degree of magnetic complexity. It will be in direct alignment with earth in a few days, so CME's then would be likely to spawn geomagnetic activity.

The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology and the National Space Weather Program will host the 2012 Space Weather Enterprise Forum on June 5, 2012, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. This year's theme is Solar Maximum 2013 – How Space Weather Will Affect You! To learn more and register, please visit the SWEF web site at http://www.nswp.gov/swef/swef_2012.html.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center

Solar poles to become quadrupolar in May [2012]
The Yomiuri Shimbun, 21st April 2012

Magnetic field polarity at the solar poles will reverse and become quadrupolar in May, meaning positive fields will emerge in the North and South poles and negative fields will emerge on the equator, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and other institutes.

When a similar phenomenon occurred about 300 years ago, the Earth's average temperature fell slightly.

A research team led by Saku Tsuneta, a professor at the observatory, analyzed solar magnetic fields data using Hinode, an observational satellite, and confirmed that the polarity of the magnetic field at the North Pole began to reverse in July last year.

The researchers also found the magnetic field at the South Pole, which was expected to reverse along with the North Pole, maintained a positive polarity, ensuring the formation of a quadrupole magnetic field.

Solar poles to become quadrupolar in May [2012]
The Yomiuri Shimbun, 21st April 2012

A Star with two North Poles

Normally, our star, like Earth itself, has a north and a south magnetic pole. But for nearly a month beginning in March 2000, the Sun's south magnetic pole faded, and a north pole emerged to take its place. The Sun had two north poles. [...]

"The south pole never really vanished," notes Riley. It migrated north and, for a while, became a band of south magnetic flux smeared around the Sun's equator. By May 2000 the south pole had returned to its usual spot near the Sun's southern spin axis--but not for long. In 2001 the solar magnetic field completely flipped; the south and north poles swapped positions, which is how they remain now.

A Star with two North Poles: Sometimes the Sun's magnetic field goes haywire, and the effects are felt throughout the solar system.
NASA Science News, April 22, 2003

TWO INCOMING CMEs: A pair of solar eruptions on May 7th hurled coronal masss ejections (CMEs) toward Earth. Forecast tracks prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab suggests that clouds with arrive in succession on May 9th at 13:40 UT and May 10th at 07:54 UT (+/- 7 hours). The double impact could spark moderate geomagnetic storms. Spaceweather.com 8th May 2012

NORTHERN LIGHTS: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of May 8th, stirring geomagnetic activity and auroras over parts of Europe. Graeme Whipps photographed the display from Scotland:

"A fantastic green and purple arc was clearly visible in the late twilight glow over Aberdeenshire," says Whipps. "I wasn't expecting this!" The full-sized image also frames a meteor slicing through the Northern Lights. Spaceweather.com 9th May 2012

• Climate change [Space Weather] 'threatens UK wi-fi connections', says government report
  Study into impact of hotter, stormier [Space] weather on UK infrastructure finds threat to wi-fi range and signal strength
  The Guardian, 9th May 2011
  Wi-fi internet access and other communications are at risk from global warming unless measures are taken to protect them from rising temperatures and stormier weather, a government report warned on Monday.
  
  Presenting the report, the secretary of state for the environment, Caroline Spelman, said that higher temperatures can reduce the range of wireless communications, rainstorms can impact the reliability of the signal, and drier summers and wetter winters may cause greater subsidence, damaging masts and underground cables.

Nov. 13, 2007: Something strange is happening in the atmosphere above Africa and researchers have converged on Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the phenomenon. The Africa Space Weather Workshop kicked off Nov. 12th with nearly 100 scientists and students in attendance.

The strange phenomenon that brings all these people together is the ion plume—"a newly discovered form of space weather," says University of Colorado atmospheric scientist and Workshop co-organizer Tim Fuller-Rowell.

Researchers liken the plumes to smoke billowing out of a factory smokestack—except instead of ordinary ash and dust, ion plumes are made of electrified gas floating so high above ground they come in contact with space itself. "The plumes appear during geomagnetic storms and they can interfere with satellite transmissions, airline navigation and radio communications," says Fuller-Rowell. Indeed, it is their effect on GPS signals that led to the discovery of plumes over North America just a few years ago. [End Quote]

Twelve to eighteen hours after the initial flare, a massive CME will approach the Earth. If a solar wind monitor upwind of Earth survives the initial energetic particle storm, it will detect the on-coming CME and indicate its potential to trigger an extreme geomagnetic storm. At this point, SWPC will issue a G5 warning, with 30-60 minutes of lead time. The societal consequences, if any, after the CME impacts the Earth remains to be determined.

Update

Many hundreds of trillions of tons of highly charged plasma has been charging up planet Earth over the last 20 years or so due to space weather and most folk only start to suspect that something incredible is happening when they find their brooms are standing on their own.... What's next, when the charge continues to build up and build up and build up, besides the transformers blowing up which has already started... see archives for what else is likely to get worse, but here is a major clue, humans are electromagnetic...

• Spacecraft Sees Solar Storm Engulf Earth
  NASA Science News, 18th August 2011
  August 18, 2011: For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet. The movie, released today during a NASA press conference, has galvanized solar physicists, who say it could lead to important advances in space weather forecasting.
  
  “The movie sent chills down my spine,” says Craig DeForest of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "It shows a CME swelling into an enormous wall of plasma and then washing over the tiny blue speck of Earth where we live. I felt very small.”
  

In this study, we analyze several measures of the severity of space weather events (flare intensity, coronal mass ejection speeds, Dst, and >30 MeV proton fluences as inferred from nitrate records) to estimate the probability of occurrence of extreme events.

By showing that the frequency of occurrence scales as an inverse power of the severity of the event, and assuming that this relationship holds at higher magnitudes, we are able to estimate the probability that an event larger than some criteria will occur within a certain interval of time in the future. For example, the probability of another Carrington event (based on Dst < -850 nT) occurring within the next decade is ~12%. We also identify and address several limitations with this approach. In particular, we assume time stationarity, and thus, the effects of long-term space climate change are not considered.

As erupting magnetic filaments often do, this one launched a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observary recorded the expanding cloud: movie.

UPDATE: At first this CME did not appear heading for Earth. However, a new analysis by forecasters at the Goddard Space Weather Lab shows that the cloud will indeed hit Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 26th at 13:30 UT (+/- 7 hr): animated forecast track. Geomagnetic storms are possible when the CME arrives.

Comment: I was interested in this example of solar scientists changing their mind about where a CME was headed...

Auroras over the USA AGAIN!
spaceweather.com, 19th February 2012
AURORAS OVER THE USA: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field during the waning hours of Saturday, Feb. 18th. Although the stream was expected, the bright auroras it produced were not. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into several US states including Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and Minnesota:

Travis Novitsky took this picture from Grand Portage, MN. "Last night, my girlfriend and I were just settling in to watch a movie when the auroras made a surprise appearance," he says. "A quick look out the back door of my house revealed that, yes indeed, the lights were out! We jumped in the truck and drove a few miles inland from Lake Superior. For the next hour and a half we were treated to a green glow peppered with dancing curtains of green, purple and red. It was a spectacular night."

In Fairbanks, Alaska, "the auroras were so bright they drew a crowd on my street," reports Brandon Lovett. At the Poker Flats Research Range outside of Fairbanks, researchers launched a suborbital rocket to investigate how auroras affect GPS systems. Lovett could see the rocket soaring into the heavens from more than 20 miles away.

This episode might have been amplified by the action of a co-rotating interaction region or "CIR." CIRs are transition zones between fast and slow solar wind streams. Solar wind plasma piles up in these regions, producing density gradients and shock waves that do a good job of sparking auroras. Local solar wind data suggest that Earth moved through a CIR around 1500 UT on Feb. 18th.

Comment: O.K. This is now starting to remind me of the warnings in the Discovery Channel documentary/drama Perfect Disaster: Solar Storm (2006), when auroras are being regularly seen over the United States alongside all the other signs that something is majorly wrong... At least we know that the mystery "magnetic disturbances" could be related to the 5 GRBs that have been hitting us in the last week or so... link.

Brief Aurora Timelapse - 18th February 2012, Nebraska [US]
YouTube, 19th February 2012
"We had a brief aurora display visible last night here in Northern Nebraska... all of these shots are at f/3.5 at 18mm, 1600 iso... and between 15 and 30 second exposures. It was fairly windy so the tripod was bouncing around some unfortunately. Last glad I finally got to see the lights, even briefly, for the 2nd time and it makes me ready for a real display!" I note the bright red auroral lights with the green.... So, what exactly is going on? This geomagnetic storm hardly registered on the geomagnetix scale but Nebraska gets signs of dramatic auroral activity...

A Spy Satellite Disappears behind a plasma double layer?
spaceweather.com, 18th February 2012
SPY-SAT DISAPPEARING TRICK: US spy satellite Lacrosse 5 occasionally confounds observers by disapppearing: In a matter of seconds, it can fade more than three astronomical magnitudes. Is this a deliberate form of stealth? Most experts think not, but no one outside of classified circles knows for sure what is going on.

To investigate, French astrophotographer Thierry Legault used his satellite-tracking telescope to photograph Lacrosse 5 as it sailed 490 miles above Paris on Jan. 15, 2012, and he caught the spysat in the act of disappearing:

"During the passage, the brightness of the satellite decreased by 10 times in only 4 seconds (a loss of 2.5 magnitudes)," describes Legault. "After 33 seconds of [dark flight] it regained its original brightness. Lacrosse 5 often shows this very singular behaviour, which is called by other observers (especially Marco Langbroek) the 'disappearing trick.'"

Other Lacrosse satellites do not perform the same trick, at least not to this extent, suggesting that the design of Lacrosse 5 differs from its predecessors. The fade is likely caused by some sort of self-shadowing--e.g., maybe some part of the spacecraft such as its solar panels casts a shadow over the main body when the spysat changes attitude.

Comment: I am not 100% sure... If you watch the video, I think this satellite is developing a plasma sheath (double layer) to isolate itself from environmental plasma that is at a different potential and explains why this just looks incredibly organic. The sheath just literally glows but amoeba-like and then quickly disappears once the difference with the external plasma potential lessens....Very interesting...

Aurora Whirlpools in the Sky
spaceweather.com, 16th February 2012
AURORA WHIRLPOOL: On Feb. 14-15, Arctic skies erupted with an unexpected display of auroras that veteran observers said was among the best in months. At the height of the event, a US Defense Meteorological Program satellite photographed a whirlpool of Northern Lights over the Bering Sea:

"A number of images from the DMSP F18 satellite captured the dramatic auroral event of the last couple nights," says analyst Paul McCrone, who processed the data at the US Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, CA.

The reason for the outburst is still not completely clear. It started on Feb. 14th when a magnetic disturbance rippled around the north pole. No CME was obvious in local solar wind data at the time; the disturbance just happened. Once begun, the display was amplified by the actions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The IMF near Earth tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetic defenses. Solar wind poured in and fueled the auroras.

Comment: This is quite an impressive image, but it is also of interest that we are told that there is no "official" explanation for why there was a "magnetic disturbance". Hence this could have been a hit from deep space, but there should be some astronomy alerts (GRBs, magnetar blasts) elsewhere as proof, ... things don't 'just happen', but I simply don't have time to check. Update: 5 gamma ray bursts since the 11th February! link. This might explain why there appeared to be fire in the sky over Tromso, Norway that puzzled me too Another beautiful night with an colorful night-show which was breathtaking. Photographed in a Fiord near Tromso in Norway. Greetings Roger Schneider 15th February 2012

Sweetheart CMEs, Cracks, Geomagnetic Storms & Auroras
spaceweather.com, 15th February 2012
SUBSIDING STORM: A geomagnetic storm (Kp=5) that began during the early hours of Feb. 15th when the IMF tipped south is subsiding. Nevertheless, solar wind conditions remain favorable for high-latitude auroras. During the storm, Northern Lights descended as far south as Minnesota in the United States. Solar storm alerts: text, voice.

SWEET LIGHTS: For reasons not fully understood by forecasters, a disturbance rippled through Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 14th. Perhaps it was Cupid's arrow. The impact sparked some sweet lights around the Arctic Circle:

"On several occasions the sky was full of auroras from horizon to horizon," says photographer and aurora tour guide Chad Blakley of Abisko National Park, Sweden. "We had many happy couples celebrating with us tonight. Most of our guests agreed that it was the best Valentine's day that they had ever shared together."

There has been some speculation that the display was caused by a CME, launched from the sun on Feb. 10th and reaching Earth on Feb. 14th. However, there is no clear signature of a CME impact in local solar wind data.

Update: Geomagnetic activity intensified even more on Feb. 15th when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tilted south, opening a crack in Earth's magnetic field. Solar wind poured in and fueled a G1-class geomagnetic storm, now subsiding.

Comment: Cupid's arrow my *"(/&n... See press release below from January 2010 where we are told that at times, we are relying on the Earth's atmosphere to protect us from cosmic rays when the Earth's magnetic field occasionally just dispppears.

Multiple rifts in Earth's magnetic shield
ESA Science, 20 Jan 2010
"The Earth's magnetic field protects our planet from most of the permanent flow of particles from the solar wind. Fissures in this magnetic shield are known to occur, enabling the solar wind to penetrate our near-space environment. A study based on data collected by the four ESA Cluster satellites and the CNSA/ESA Double Star TC-1 spacecraft, provides new insight into the location and duration of these ruptures in the Earth's magnetic shield.

This study reports the observation of fissures on the Sun-facing side of the Earth's magnetic shield – the dayside magnetopause. Fortunately, these fissures don't expose Earth's surface to the solar wind; our atmosphere protects us, even when our magnetic field doesn't. However, clear effects have been detected high in the upper atmosphere and in the region of space around Earth where satellites orbit."

Cosmic Log - Sun points a loaded gun at us
MSNBC Cosmic Log, 11th February 2012
"The prediction center's Facebook page reports that on Friday, the sun threw off a slow-moving coronal mass ejection, or CME — in the shape of a heart, no less. "A preliminary model run predicts this CME will arrive, appropriately enough, on Valentine's Day," NOAA reports. "
Very faint heart-shaped CME SOHO image here, thanks C for the link. Maybe[?] a CME did arrived at the time Earth decided to lower her shields, I suppose that is why there are all the jokes about Cupid's arrows...

Dust Causes Explosions, And Apparently Nanodust Causes Mega-Explosions
Popular Science, 15th February 2012
Along with annoyingly adhering to your TV screen and tabletops, dust can be a deadly material, exploding with enormously destructive force in places like coal mines, sugar refineries and grain silos. The explosive properties of normal dust are pretty well known, but what about non-traditional dust? Not all dusts are created equal — and dust derived from the materials of the future could present a very different type of danger.

Led by S. Morgan Worsfold of Dalhousie University in Halifax, a team of researchers from Canada and Norway set out to determine these properties. They surveyed the fairly small body of published research on blowing up nanoparticles, flocculent materials — fluffy synthetic stuff — and hybrid dust mixtures, which they define as any dust with an added liquid or gas. [...]

The researchers say much more study is needed to understand the explosivity of these different dusts, especially nanodust, as nanotechnology grows ever more prevalent. Their paper appears in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Comment: My immediate reaction is whether there is some panic at high levels about the amount of cosmic dust coming into our atmosphere and whether it is combustible.... Maybe a few minds are becoming more focused because we are already experiencing extreme high energy events called Terrestrial Gamma Rays Flashes that scientists had only previously associated with the most extreme environments in the universe, like black holes and supernovae. Now, scientists estimate there are about 500 terrestrial gamma ray flashes occuring per day in Earth's atmosphere above the thunderstorms around Earth and they have no idea what the hell is going on, see archives for info... Is the cause dust, dust, glorious dust? I even wonder whether these people have read Robert Felix's book Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps, seriously, this is a real gem and enough to get certain people's juices flowing... especially the bit about nuclear reactions in the atmosphere when the magnetic field drops really low... which makes me wonder if what we are seeing now is part of the same cosmic springcleaning that is a little less drastic... Whatever, we should all be grateful because the geological record tells us that things could be far worse....read the book...

Space Weather: CME Expected to Miss: Radiation Storm in Progress
spaceweather.com, 28th January 2012
RADIATION STORM: Accelerated by yesterday's X-flare, energetic protons from the sun are swarming around Earth on Jan. 28th. The radiation storm ranks S2 on NOAA scales, which means this is not a severe storm. Nevertheless, it can still affect spacecraft and satellites at the nuisance level. For instance, this coronagraph image from SOHO is clouded by protons hitting SOHO's onboard digital camera.

X-FLARE (UPDATED): Departing sunspot 1402 unleashed an X2-class solar flare on Jan. 27th at 18:37 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Sunspot 1402 is rotating onto the far side of the sun, so the blast site was not facing Earth. Nevertheless, energetic protons accelerated by the blast are now surrounding our planet, and an S2-class radiation storm is in progress.
b The explosion also produced a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME). A movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows the cloud racing away from the sun at 2500 km/s or 5.6 million mph. Update: Work by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab shows that the CME will just miss Earth when its edge passes by our planet on Jan. 30-31. Click to view an animated forecast track:

Comment: The latest info from spaceweather.com. 1.8 X-Flare 27th January 2012
spaceweather.com, 27th January 2012
X-FLARE: Departing sunspot 1402 unleashed an X2-class solar flare today, Jan. 27th, at 18:27 UT. The blast site was not facing Earth at the time of the eruption. Nevertheless, a radiation storm is possible. Stay tuned for updates.

Comment: Whether this blast was Earth directed or not, the solar absorption chart (DRAP) shows that Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere were affected.

Flare X1.7 and CME RA1402 (1) Jan 27. 2012
YouTube, 27th January 2012
Massive CME... the question is: is any of that coming our way?

Asteroid makes near-miss fly-by
BBC News, 27th January 2012
An asteroid hurtled past the Earth on Friday in something of a cosmic near-miss, making its closest approach at about 1600 GMT. The asteroid, estimated to be about 11m (36ft) in diameter, was first detected on Wednesday.

At its closest, the space rock - named 2012 BX34 - passed within about 60,000km of Earth - less than a fifth of the distance to the Moon. Astronomers stressed that there had been no cause for concern.¨

Comment: Another example of an asteroid that is virtually invisible in the interstellar debris field invading our solar system, that has only been detected at the last minute... According to spaceweather.com it's 0.2 LD, which is close but not that close.

Asteroid Flyby, 27th January 2012
spaceweather.com, 26th January 2012
ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 BX34 is flying past Earth today only 77,000 km (0.2 lunar distances) away. There is no danger of a collision with the 14-meter wide space rock. Advanced amateur astronomers might be able to observe the flyby as the bus-sized asteroid brightens to 14th magnitude just before closest approach on Jan. 27th at 1530 UT. [3D orbit] [ephemeris] [images: #1]

Spectacular Moon Haloes
spaceweather.com, 27th January 2012
CORONA CONJUNCTION: "Last night I went outside to photograph the Venus-Moon conjunction, and I got more than I bargained for," reports Robert Arn of Fort Collins, Colorado. "The Moon and Venus both had an incredible corona surrounding them. The sight was beyond words (but not beyond pictures)." He recorded the scene in this 5-second exposure @ ISO 400:

Coronas are caused by tiny water droplets in thin clouds, which diffract the light of bright heavenly bodies to produce iridescent halos, as shown above. Seeing one corona in the night sky is not uncommon; however, seeing two in close proximity is a rare treat. Another "corona conjunction" could be in the offing. The Moon is moving past Venus for a meet-up with Jupiter on Jan. 29th. If the two align behind a moist, thin cloud--voilà!

Comment: I have ignored so many spaceweather entries on moon haloes, I have even been seeing them in Switzerland but this is truly fantastic.... dust, dust glorious dust... I appreciate the "Dark Materials" but else out there appreciates what is going on? Only the spiritually intelligent need reply...

Auroras Over the Lower States of the USA Again!
spaceweather.com, 27th January 2012
AURORAS OVER THE USA: The geomagnetic storm of Jan. 24th died out before night fell over North America--or did it? According to reports still trickling in, auroras were reported not only in Canada, but also in some of the lower 48 US states. Shawn Malone of Marquette, Michigan, took this picture looking north from the shores of Lake Superior:

"I got to view a slice of the aurora through a tiny opening in an otherwise completely overcast sky," says Malone. "It appeared to be a pretty decent display."

Prompted by the CME warning, Mike Hollingshead of Nebraska drove 450 miles to the Badlands National Park of South Dakota hoping to catch a glimpse of the auroras. He got more than he bargained for: "While I waited for some sign of auroras, the most amazing fireball I've ever seen blasts down. It flashed brightly and illuminated the terrain around me." Later, the auroras made a belated appearance, turning the badland sky green.

More auroras could be in the offing. A solar wind stream is heading for Earth, due to arrive on Jan. 28-29.

Comment: So, are the USA now routinely getting auroras in the lower states? That is only supposed to happen for rare G4/G5 geomagnetic storms, not storms that NOAA only grudgingly define as G2. I am wondering when more people start to realise that something serious is happening to the atmosphere, especially over North America...

CME IMPACT 24th January 2012
spaceweather.com, 24th January 2012
CME IMPACT: As expected, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Jan. 24th at approximately 1500 UT (10 am EST). Geomagnetic storms are likely in the hours ahead. If it's dark where you live, go outside and look for auroras.
b In Lofoton, Norway, the CME's arrival produced a surge in ground currents outside the laboratory of Rob Stammes: link

Comment: I don't know whether the ACE satellite instruments for measuring the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is actually busted, but the NICT images and data don't look too great to me. The NICT Space Weather box (see right column) actually says for the Solar Wind (ACE): "Inaccurate measurement of the rate of increase for proton". Hmmm.....

Solar storm aurora captured by UK photographers - 7 Photos
Wired.co.uk, 23rd January 2012

Planes expected to reroute following massive solar eruption
Fox News, 23rd January 2012
An immense blast of plasma spewed late Sunday night from the sun led to the strongest radiation storm bombarding our planet since 2005, and a rare warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency -- and even a plan to redirect certain high-flying airplanes.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center -- the nation’s official source of warnings about space weather and its impact on Earth -- issued a watch for a geomagnetic storm expected to hit our planet Tuesday morning after a satellite witnessed an ultraviolet flash from the massive solar eruption, according to Spaceweather.com.

Comment: Radio communications must be bad most likely due to the proton storm being a long duration event and then we have a fast CME arriving soon too...

Biggest solar storm in six years
Stuff.co.nz, 24th January 2012
"The radiation in the form of protons came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour. "The whole volume of space between here and Jupiter is just filled with protons and you just don't get rid of them like that," Biesecker said. That's why the effects will stick around for a couple days."

ALMOST-X FLARE AND A NEW MASSIVE CME BLAST
spaceweather.com, 23rd January 2012
ALMOST-X FLARE AND CME (UPDATED): This morning, Jan. 23rd around 0359 UT, big sunspot 1402 erupted, producing a long-duration M9-class solar flare. The explosion's M9-ranking puts it on the threshold of being an X-flare, the most powerful kind. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the flare's extreme ultraviolet flash

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft detected a CME rapidly emerging from the blast site: movie. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the leading edge of the CME will reach Earth on Jan. 24 at 14:18UT (+/- 7 hours). Their animated forecast track shows that Mars is in the line of fire, too; the CME will hit the Red Planet during the late hours of Jan. 25.

This is a relatively substantial and fast-moving (2200 km/s) CME. Spacecraft in geosynchronous, polar and other orbits passing through Earth's ring current and auroral regions could be affected by the cloud's arrival. In addition, strong geomagnetic storms are possible, so high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras

RADIATION STORM IN PROGRESS: Solar protons accelerated by this morning's M9-class solar flare are streaming past Earth. On the NOAA scale of radiation storms, this one ranks S3, which means it could, e.g., cause isolated reboots of computers onboard Earth-orbiting satellites and interfere with polar radio communications. An example of satellite effects: The "snow" in this SOHO coronagraph movie is caused by protons hitting the observatory's onboard camera.

Comment: There has been a R2 radio blackout and the worse proton storm in 7 years, the solar absorption chart (DRAP) shows the ionosphere to have been highly affected by the worse radiation storm in 6 years. A very fast Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is headed towards Earth. Things are starting to get interesting because if we keep getting volley after volley of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, that is when we are most likely to get an ultra weakened magnetosphere (poor magnetic defences) that will provide the conditions for a killer geomagnetic shot that will knock out national power grids. From my perspective, I don't believe there is enough current expertise to say when that knock out shot will occur and I am still waiting for some information that tells us what criteria will be used to make the decision to take down national power grids. Solarham.com has more spaceweather info and videos.

2012-01-23 15:01 Geomagnetic Storm Expected Tuesday, Jan 23
NOAA SWPC, 23rd January 2012
"As the strongest Solar Radiation Storm (S3) since May, 2005 continues, the associated Earthward-directed Coronal Mass Ejection is expected to arrive about 1400 UT (9am EST) Jan 24. SWPC has issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch with G2 level storming likely and G3 level storming possible, with the storm continuing into Wednesday, Jan 25. All of this activity is related to a moderate (R2) Radio Blackout x-ray flare that erupted Sunday night (11pm EST). Updates will be posted here as we learn more or follow us on Facebook."

A strong solar flare reaching M8.7 took place at 03:59 UTC monday morning
The Watchers, 23rd January 2012

The anomaly in the Earth's atmosphere - UFO or use of HAARP? Shooting from the ISS January 22, 2012
YouTube, 22nd January 2012
Skeptics immediately say that this cirrus clouds, but it is not! Look at the correct location of the structure in the form of a cone or pyramid! At the very top of an object is clearly visible - the core! What do you think about this?

Comment: I am a skeptic and I say dusty plasma or more technically light scattered by dust bands in plasma. It is unfortunate that there are so many uneducated and ignorant people who are so completely unaware of what is taking place in our solar system and on Earth. Hence the blogosphere is awash with people seeking to blame what they don't understand on a tiny little atmospheric heater (HAARP) that could not even rival the power of one single bolt of lightning. Earth get's struck by lightning 100 times per second or 6000 strikes per minute or 360,000 strikes per hour, or 8,640,000 strikes per day. Source: here . The whole planet is electrically alive and getting more and more electrified every single day due to the changing properties of our local space environment, hence the increase of Transient Luminous Events e.g. sprites and jets. The planet is also being flooded with highly charged dusty plasmas due to interstellar dust leaking into our solar system from deep space. Hence the appearance of noctilucent clouds and a whole range of 'rare' atmospheric phenomena that suggests that 'unusual' condensation nuclei and most likely cosmic dust is to blame. There is a lot of different sources in the atmosphere, natural and man-made that could have caused this atmospheric feature, but shouting HAARP is a sure sign of those who are scientifically illiterate.

CME Impact [Update II]
spaceweather.com, 22nd January 2012
CME IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at 0617 UT on Jan. 22nd. At first the impact did not appear to be a strong one: the solar wind speed barely lifted itself to ~400 km/s when the CME passed by. Now, however, in the wake of the CME, a dense and increasingly geoeffective solar wind stream is blowing around Earth, setting the stage for possible auroras on the night of Jan. 22nd. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

A surge of ground currents in Lofoton, Norway, signaled the CME's arrival, but the impact occurred as the sun was rising--too late for European sky watchers to spy the Northern Lights. CME IMPACT II (Version II): Arriving a little later than expected, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at 0617 UT on Jan. 22nd. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the impact strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field and briefly exposed satellites in geosynchronous orbit to solar wind plasma. Shifting lines of magnetic force induced strong ground currents in Norway and sparked bright auroras over the upper reaches of North America. This colorful corona appeared over Chatanika, Alaska:

Comment: This geomagnetic storm is a long drawn out affair... The magnetosphere image icon used here is at 22nd Jan 14:20:55 and our cosmic shielding has failed as we now expect and allowed in a lot of extremely energized cosmic energy. The surge of ground currents in Lofoton, Norway is interesting I imagine there will be some impact on normal day to day business.

CME Impact / Geomagnetic Storm Jan 22, 2012
YouTube, 22nd January 2012
"CME Impact: ACE Spacecraft telemetry has recorded a sudden solar wind increase to 540 km/s. A geomagnetic sudden impulse to 30nT was recorded at 06:00 UTC. This indicates the arrival of the expected Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Minor Geomagnetic Storm conditions are now in progress."
This video is a good summary of space weather data and info.

Real time Kiruna Magnetometer reading
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, 22nd January 2012

ACE Satellite Data: CME Shockwaves detected - 22nd January 2012

NICT Real time Magnetosphere Simulation.

Alaska - Aurora Live

Space Weather Alerts - NOAA Definitions

A strong meteor rain was in China - photo
hainanwel.com News, 22nd February 2012
The newspaper "News of Shenzhen" in Chinese today announced, that in the Chinese province of Qinghai was a strong meteor rain, during which on the land fell a several dozen meteorites, the largest of which reached a weight of 12.5 kg (see the photo at the top of this article). It is reported, that the local residents heard two loud explosions in the sky and then saw the traces of fire falling meteorites. While the investigated area is only about a few square kilometers, scientists may be able to find more meteorites in this place.

Comment: Seriously, it was no very long ago (see archives), where authorities were telling us that meteors were quite rare occurences and now a few years later, it's raining meteors. I have now given up keeping track of meteor events unless they are spectacular.... The photo here is a large chunk too...

CME Blast Directed at Earth [Update]
spaceweather.com, 20th January 2012
INCOMING CME: Active sunspot 1401 erupted yesterday, Jan. 19th around 16:30 UT, producing an M3-class solar flare and a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME). The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded the cloud expanding almost directly toward Earth:

Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives this weekend. Their animated forecast track predicts an impact on Jan. 21st at 22:30 UT (+/- 7 hrs).

Comment: Well, this is the first time I have seen conflicting space weather reports. Spaceweather.com is written by Dr. Tony Phillips who controls all the press releases and media from NASA, that should tell you something. It seems that he has decided to ignore NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and believe the space weather forecasters at NASA Goddard. Now remember it was only a few weeks ago that a CME was supposed to miss Earth and actually hit us, so presumably that was NASA officials listening to the wrong people... Here are being told by spaceweather.com/NASA that this CME could hit us as strongly (G3?) but I would like to know the exact details. According to NOAA's Geomagnetic Storm Scale defined as G1- G5, G1 is minor, G3 is Strong, G5 and we can expect mayhem, see table for details.

2012-01-20 16:35 G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Possible January 23
NOAA SWPC, 20th January 2012
"SWPC Forecasters have determined that the CME from NOAA Region 1402 near disk center yesterday will likely pass above (north) of Earth. This glancing blow will cause just G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm activity. Look for the first signs of it around 1800Z (1:00 pm EST) on Sunday, January 22, with the bulk of the disturbance to occur Monday, January 23. Watch here for updates."

NASA SDO - M2.6 Solar Flare on January 19, 2012
YouTube, 19th January 2012

M3 Solar Flare & CME Blast Directed at Earth
spaceweather.com, 19th January 2012
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE:: Active sunspot 1401 erupted today, Jan. 19th, between 15:15 and 16:30 UT. The long-duration blast produced an M3-class solar flare and a CME that appears to be heading toward Earth. This movie from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the extreme UV flash:

NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft recorded an impressive CME emerging from the blast site: movie #1, movie #2. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab confirm that the CME is heading for Earth, and they say strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives this weekend. Their animated forecast track predicts an impact on Jan. 21st at 22:30 UT (+/- 7 hrs).

Comment: NOAA have been kind and provided us the usual joke warning of +/- 7 hrs.... Solarham.com has lots of basic info and videos.

The best light shows on Earth are getting even more spectacular
spaceweather.com, 17th January 2012
CHANCE OF AURORAS: A coronal mass ejection (CME) heading mainly for Venus might deliver a glancing blow to our planet, too, on Jan. 19th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives. In Finland, the Northern Lights are already shining. Aurora tour guide Andy Keen took this picture last night in the Municipality of Inari:

"We didn't need head-torches as the forest was illuminated by the Aurora dancing above our heads," describes Keen. "For over two and a half hours we witnessed one of the best light shows that I've ever observed in over 5000 hours of 'chasing' the auroras. Ribbons, curtains, mini spirals, bursts - you name it and we had it."

"Some of our group were so amazed by what we were witnessing that they simply lay on their backs in the snow and soaked it all up. Others ran around making noises like over excitable school children - myself included. It was absolutely mind-blowing to say the least. If this is a sign of things to come as Solar Maximum approaches, then all I can say is that we're all in for a real treat over the coming months and years.

Comment: Hmmm... This should be no surprise if the magnetosphere is weak, full of cracks and allowing in more solar and cosmic energies.

Massive Coronal Hole
spaceweather.com, 14th January 2012
CORONAL HOLE: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring a dark gash in the sun's atmosphere--a coronal hole. It's the dark vertical feature in this extreme UV image taken on Jan. 13th:

Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. This yawning hole is about 120,000 km wide and more than a million km long. Solar wind flowing from its UV-dark abyss will reach Earth on Jan. 16th or 17th, possibly sparking auroras for high-latitude sky watchers.

Comment: I think the massive coronal hole, with a slightly faster and dense solar wind that also has a south magnetic field orientation is part of the reason why the mysterious sounds are being heard but the real issue is: what is making the sounds of the magnetosphere audible by the human ear? What is interesting is that some people have been complaining for years that they could hear a low hum but it might get to the stage where everyone can hear the sounds all the time. That would be incredible.

News Report: Mysterious Auckland [New Zealand] Hum
YouTube Feb 17, 2007
This hum was found to be at 56Hz but the researchers could not name a source.

News Report: Mysterious Rumblings and Vibrations in Windsor, ON, Canada are Causing Problems - August 2011
YouTube, Aug 16, 2011

More 'Rare' Clouds: The Dust Starts to Settle on the Matter
spaceweather.com, 14th January 2012
POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS: An apparition of polar stratospheric clouds is underway around the Arctic Circle. "It is almost as good as the aurora borealis," says Göran Strand, who took this picture last night from Östersund, Sweden:

Eric Schandall of Oslo, Norway, adds this report: "We have seen them for three evenings over Oslo, with the ones on Jan. 13th being the most dramatic and beautiful so far."

Also known as "nacreous" or "mother of pearl" clouds, these icy clouds form in the lower stratosphere when temperatures drop to around minus 85ºC. Sunlight shining through tiny ice particles ~10µm across produce the characteristic bright iridescent colors by diffraction and interference.

"Nacreous clouds far outshine and have much more vivid colours than ordinary iridescent clouds, which are very much poor relations and seen frequently all over the world," writes atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Once seen they are never forgotten."

Comment: So have we moved on from noctilucent clouds and reached the next stage? We are told that these 'rare' clouds need frigid temperatures but this is wrong wrong wrong. This cloud formation is also dependent on the electrical charge of the condensation nuclei and just like noctilucent clouds, atmosphereic scientists are admittting that noctilucent clouds are being caused by dusty plasmas... But the difference here is noctilucent clouds form at about 85km but these clouds are forming at 15-25km... The clouds are literally shinning brightly because they are highly charged pastel coloured neon lights... the dust is now beginning to settle on this matter and on us all... Good!

Spaceweather disturbs the Earth's upper atmosphere
spaceweather.com, 13th January 2012
FARSIDE ERUPTION: On Jan. 12th, between 10:00 and 1300 UT, NASA's STEREO-Behind spacecraft observed a significant eruption on the farside of the sun. Although the blast was partially eclipsed by the edge of the solar disk, it nevertheless produced a long-duration X-ray flare (C3-class) detectable from Earth. A movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows some of the debris flying over the NE limb:

The blast site is only ~two days away from rotating onto the Earthside of the sun. By this weekend, we could get a direct look at the active region. Perhaps it will break the recent string of mostly quiet days and low solar activity.

Update: The partially-eclipsed C-flare was strong enough to make waves of ionizaton in Earth's upper atmosphere. This, in turn, disturbed the normal propagation of low-frequency radio waves over Europe. "The C3.3 flare on the far side of the Sun was picked up on my SID monitoring station," reports Dave Gradwell of Birr Ireland. "It affected the 20.9 kHz signal from FTA in France, just before the signal became unstable."

Comment: I find it strange that a moderate C-class flare can now cause problems in Earth's upper atmosphere. I have been occasionally looking at the magnetosphere and it took a direct hit by 'something' at nearly midnight on the 11/12th. There was a huge density spike and the magnetosphere reacted by filling up with particles, but it did not get 'red' or even 'white' hot so I found that strange too. I think that what is happening is that the conducting properties of space is still going up and that even innoculous flares and CMEs are having a stronger and stronger impact, so the old ratings are no longer applicable. I don't even bother looking at whether the Earth's magnetic field is 'normal' because 'normal' is only 'normal' for short periods before the next time the magnetic field lines get distorted and reverse, that is the new normal.

'Mile High Halo' Forms Over Tim Tebow And Mile High Stadium During Broncos Steelers Game (PHOTOS)
Huffington Post, 9th January 2012
Let's all try to be calm and rational about this. In addition to Tim Tebow throwing 316 yards in the Broncos' upset over the Steelers (Tebow painted Bible verse John 3:16 under his eyes in college) and fans replacing "Tebow" with "Jesus" on their jerseys, apparently a halo-like smoke ring formed over Mile High yesterday after the Broncos scored their first field goal.

Mark Neuman-Lee, an attendee of the Steelers/Broncos game and photographer of the "Mile High Halo," tells HuffPost he'd never seen the ring prior to yesterday's NFL upset. Two season pass ticket-holders also told HuffPost the halo seems to be an anomaly. At the time of publication, a request for comment from the Broncos was not immediately returned.

Comment: In the same way that volcanoes can belch out smoke rings, (the sun does the same occasionally too), some force has created a ring above this stadium. The remarkable thing is that the ring appeared in a blue sky but the charge impact caused changed the temperature of the air and so some particles in the air became condensation nuclei in order for water droplets to form the ring. Now we are getting killer electrons blasting into our atmosphere from the Van Allen belts. Also, I believe that we are in a region of space with peculiar properties and at times, Earth is hit by beams of energy [spinning vortexes] that cause the hole punch clouds and the peculiar laser cut "sink holes". I know that in the last week, there was some chatter about sink holes and even a Russian toddler died when the pavement collapsed, I was going to ignore this story (see above) but the video indicates the hole had fairly well cut sides so I am suspicious. We also had geomagnetic activity from a CME that was first announced as a likely near miss on Earth. Instead, it hit and there was ground currents reported from Norway... unbelievable. The following is a weird comment of something strange seen in the sky. I think this is unrelated, but still interesing:

Joel Trafton: I see the same thing while camping in Maine in the late 70s.It was like looking up thru a big jelly fish.

Menu Older