Solar and Aurora Activity Chat

[BornFromTheVoid]

Hate to be nit-picky, but perhaps you might consider posting the source for that information, in case people want to find out a bit more and I guess as a courtesy to the original site.

[Gray-Wolf]

http://www.spaceweather.com/

There you go BFTV!

[BornFromTheVoid]

Cheers GW, although I know the source already! Was thinking more for others.

[Polar Maritime]

Some new activity showing..

[Polar Maritime]

[Polar Maritime]

SOMETHING IN THE OFFING: A potentially significant active region is about to rotate onto the Earthside of the sun. A hot plume of plasma flying over the sun's northeastern limb heralded its approach during the early hours of April 15th:

Extreme UV image credit: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

The eruption hurled a coronal mass ejection toward NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have prepared a forecast track showing the progress of the cloud. No planets are in the line of fire.

Stay tuned for updates as the sun turns to reveal the active region in the days ahead.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Polar Maritime]

Nice video showing activity over the last two days.

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tuYU38nDUo

Also solor filament showing possibilitys of the polar shift?

Edited April 16, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Crepuscular Ray]

According to spaceweather.com, an area just emerging over the north-eastern limb let off an M1.7 flare a few hours ago:

http://www.spaceweather.com

It wasn't Earth-directed, sadly, so will have no effects.

Edited April 16, 2012 by crepuscular ray

[Polar Maritime]

SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION (UPDATED): Magnetic fields on the sun's northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on April 16th, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the blast at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths:

.

The explosion, which registered M1.7 on the Richter Scale of solar flares, was not Earth-directed, but it did hurl a CME into space. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have analyzed the trajectory of the cloud and found that it will hit NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft, the Spitzer space telescope, and the

en route to Mars. Planets Venus and Mars could also receive a glancing blow.

Using data from SDO, Steele Hill of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center assembled a must-see movie of the event. It shows the explosion unfolding at 304Ã…, a wavelength which traces plasma with a temperature around 80,000 K.

Coverage of the blast was not limited to space telescopes. Amateur astronomers saw it, too. Jim Lafferty sends this picture from his backyard observatory in Redlands, California:

"Yesterday's prominence on the sun's eastern limb was was one of the largest in years---short lived, it was mostly gone in a few hours," says Lafferty. "It was a wonderful sight in the eyepiece and in the camera!"

more images: from Vahan Yeterian of Lompoc California; from John Minnerath of Crowheart, Wyoming; from John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico;

http://www.spaceweather.com/

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJkI4Q_Ed9U&list=UUIp0KTgnQNZJIOQZqrVDw1g&index=1&feature=plcp

Edited April 17, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

[Polar Maritime]

GROWING SUNSPOT: What a difference a day makes. On April 16th, sunspot AR1460 did not exist. Twenty-four hours later it was twice as big as the planet Earth. This April 17th movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows sunspot genesis in action:

The sunspot's magnetic field is still too simple for strong flares, but if the expansion continues apace, instabilities could develop that lead to explosions. Readers with solar telescopes should keep an eye on AR1460. http://www.spaceweather.com/

[frogesque]

Once again, spaceweather hyping up a growing sunspot. Wake me up when/if it happens!

[Polar Maritime]

Once again, spaceweather hyping up a growing sunspot. Wake me up when/if it happens!

I carn't see where they are hyping it up...

They just seem to tell us how it is regarding sunspot activity.

All interesting stuff, unless it's just the big flares your after.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

Credit: Jim Lafferty from Redlands, California

April 16, 2012 Solar Flare seen by Amateur Astronomers.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_1DebjYJ9U

[Polar Maritime]

ION WAVES IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE: Today, a volley of C-class solar flares sent waves of ionization rippling through the atmosphere high over Europe. Dave Gradwell of Birr, Ireland, detected the disturbances using a VLF radio monitoring system:

The source of the flares is a sunspot in the sun's southern hemisphere (tentatively numbered AR1463)--one of several active regions popping up around the solar disk. With sunspot numbers on the rise, more flares and ion waves are likely in the days ahead.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Polar Maritime]

Very nice work here...

http://vimeo.com/40555466

[Polar Maritime]

Edited April 20, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

INCOMING PLASMA CLOUDS: On April 18th and 19th, a series of minor CMEs puffed away from the sun. Three of them are heading in our general direction. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have prepared an animated forecast track of the ensemble:

According to the forecast, the clouds are going to hit Mercury, Earth, Mars and

en route to Mars. The impact on our planet, on April 22nd around 00:50 UT, is expected to be minor with auroras likely only at higher latitudes.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

And wait for it.....

Rubber Chicken Flies into Solar Radiation Storm

Last month, when the sun unleashed the most intense radiation storm since 2003, peppering satellites with charged particles and igniting strong auroras around both poles, a group of high school students in Bishop, California, knew just what to do.

The students inflated a helium balloon and used it to send the fowl, named "Camilla," to an altitude of 120,000 ft where she was exposed to high-energy solar protons at point blank range.
http://science.nasa..../19apr_camilla/ Edited April 20, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

[shuggee]

Interesting wee video there PM

[skidders]

Interesting wee video there PM

How good it is to see someone clearly explaining away something that would or may have already been claimed in yet another conspiracy theory! These are really good updates.

[Polar Maritime]

AURORA BOREALIS: Northern sky watchers on the lookout for meteors this weekend were surprised, in many places, by a display of auroras. "Northern Lights were visible most the night as a persistent glowing arc low on the horizon," reports Shawn Malone of Marquette, Michigan. "I spent a clear moonless night on the shore of Lake Superior and saw some nice Lyrid meteors cutting through the auroras."

The auroras was caused by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which tipped south and opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the display. A minor CME might have also swept past Earth during the early hours of Aprill 22nd, further amplifying the lights. http://www.spaceweather.com/

Mark Nolan Image taken: Apr. 22, 2012 Location: Culdaff Beach, County Donegal, Ireland Details: I thought there was a chance of auroras last night and with the chance of Lyrid Meteors as well, I decided to go to Culdaff beach for a look. Camera settings: Nikon D7000, 10mm, 30sec, f4, ISO 2200

[shuggee]

Anybody in Northern England northward got clear skies?

Negative Bz at -10 and this mapping from NOAA:

[Polar Maritime]

To much cloud cover for me last night Shuggee.

INTENSIFYING GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A moderate (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm is underway. This is due to Earth's passage through the wake of a CME that swept past our planet on April 23rd. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

"My girlfriend and I were on the Co. Antrim coast of Northern Ireland, and the auroras we saw were sublime!" reports Martin McKenna. He snapped this photo of the display:

"It's the best I've seen here since 2005, with vertical green pillars of light some 60 degrees high accompanied by amazing pulsating motions like the beating of a heart," he says. "We could even see the beams reflecting on the ocean forming their own glitter paths - what a night!"

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Jon Cooper Image taken: Apr. 24, 2012 Location: Hardendale, near Shap, Cumbria, United Kingdom Details: The cloud eventually cleared to give me part two of tonight's aurora. The stratus just made the sky look bigger with the aurora behind it. Fairly faint to the naked eye, but the pillars of light were often very easy to see - they just kept coming. Pentax K-r iso 3200 20s 18mm

Peter Gorman Image taken: Apr. 24, 2012 Location: Shroove, North Donegal, Ireland Details: very strong aurura which could be seen from Ireland, so strong you could see the lights dance with the naked eye http://spaceweather.com/submissions/pics/p/Peter-Gorman-IMG_9976_1335238285_med.jpg http://spaceweather.com/submissions/images/spacer.gif http://spaceweather.com/submissions/pics/p/Peter-Gorman-IMG_9983_1335238285_med.jpg http://spaceweather.com/submissions/images/spacer.gif

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=33vCFpQbA9w

Edited April 24, 2012 by Polar Maritime