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CME
IMPACT AND GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A
moderate G2-class
geomagnetic storm, caused by the arrival of a CME
on March 12th at ~0930 UT is subsiding.
The CME's impact caused ground
currents in Norway, and strongly compressed
Earth's magnetosphere, possibly exposing geosynchronous
satellites to solar wind plasma. At the same time,
photographic Southern Lights were recorded over
New
Zealand and Tasmania.
High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for
auroras. Aurora alerts:
text,
phone.
WEEKEND
SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot AR1429 erupted
again over the weekend. On Saturday, March 10th,
it produced a powerful M8-class flare that almost
crossed the threshold into X-territory.
During the flare, New Mexico amateur astronomer
Thomas Ashcraft recorded a series of radio bursts
at 21 and 28 MHz:
Dynamic spectrum courtesy Wes Greenman,
Alachua County, Florida
The roaring
sounds you just heard are caused by shock waves
plowing through the sun's atmosphere in the aftermath
of the explosion. "There is incredible complexity
in the waveforms," notes Ashcraft. "This
is a recording of one of the most turbulent events
in all of Nature!"
more data: from
the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project in
Atlanta, Georgia; from
Eric Todd of Philadelphia, PA
SUNSET
PLANETS: This is a great week to
admire the sunset. Venus and Jupiter are side-by-side
only 3o apart in the western sky, beaming
through the twilight as soon as the sun goes down.
"We have a wild tree in our front yard just
begging for a set of eyes," says photographer
Jeff Brown of Selah, Washington. "Jupiter and
Venus worked perfectly." (continued
below)
The two bright planets seem to inspire
photographic creativity. In Wiltshire, England,
Richard Fleet measured their angular separation
using a pair of cat's
ears, while photographer Claus Vogel of Ottawa,
Ontario, tried his hand at planet
painting.
Let the planets be your muse, and
submit your images here.
more images: from
Chad Blakley of Abisko National Park, Sweden;
from
Göran Strand of Frösön, Sweden; from
Gary A. Becker of Coopersburg, PA; from
Andrew Dianetti of Paris, France; from
Andrew Hoggins of Knowlton Dorset UK; from
P-M Hedén of Stockholm, Sweden; from
Barbara L. Schumacher of Vista, California.
February
2012 Aurora Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002]
