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ANOTHER
CME IS HEADING FOR EARTH: Sunspot
AR1429 has unleashed another strong solar flare,
an M6-class
eruption on March 9th at 0358 UT. The blast hurled
a coronal mass ejection (movie)
almost directly toward Earth. According to analysts
at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will arrive
on March 11th at 0649 UT (+/- 7 hr) adding to the
geomagnetic unrest already underway. An animated
forecast
track shows that the cloud will also hit the
Mars Science Lab spacecraft and Mars itself on March
12th and 13th, respectively. Geomagnetic
storm alerts: text,
phone.
AFTERSHOCKS:
At first, yesterday's widely-reported
CME impact produced little in the way of Earth effects.
Eventually, however, a geomagnetic storm did develop
as Earth passed through the wake of the CME. Mild
to strong geomagnetic storms are underway
around the Arctic Circle, producing auroras like
these photographed by Jónína Óskarsdóttir of Faskrudsfjordur,
Iceland:
"No words can describe the experience
of the Northern Lights show tonight," says
Óskarsdóttir. "This is just a 1s exposure!"
High-latitude sky watchers should
remain alert for auroras as Earth's magnetic field
continues to feel the aftershocks of the CME impact.
Aurora alerts:
text,
phone.
more images: from
Ryan de los Reyes of Anchorage, Alaska; from
Doug Kiesling of Saint Cloud, Minnesota; from
Nick Monk of Mountain River, Tasmania, Australia;
from
Chris Picking of Owhiro Bay, Wellington, New
Zealand; from
Ron D of Carrington, North Dakota; from
Carlton McMillan of Pine City, Minnesota; from
Ben Chorn of Duluth, Minnesota; from
Lyle Anderson of Duluth, Minnesota; from
Yuichi Takasaka of Lumby, British Columbia;
from
Imelda Joson and Edwin Aguirre flying 34,000
feet over Minnesota; from
David Barthel of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota; from
Jerry Zhu of Middleton, Wisconsin; from
Friedrich Deters of Spring Lake Park, Minnesota;
from
Bob Conzemius of Bovey, Minnesota
HUGE
SUNSPOT: Active sunspot AR1429
continues to grow. It is now more than seven times
wider than Earth, which makes it an easy target
for backyard solar
telescopes. In fact, yesterday, David Tremblay
of Alto, New Mexico, saw it using no telescope at
all. All he needed was a dust storm:
"The dust blowing from Tularosa
Basin was so dense, we could observe the sun with
the naked eye--and there was sunspot AR1429. Wow!"
says Tremblay.
The behemoth spot has unleashed four
strong flares since it emerged on March 2nd, including
the X5-class eruption of March 7th. More could be
in the offing. The active region has a "beta-gamma-delta"
class magnetic field that harbors energy for additional
X-class eruptions. Solar
flare alerts: text,
phone.
more images: from
Jett Aguilar of Quezon City, Philippines; from
James Kevin Ty of Manila, Philippines; from
Harald Paleske of Langendorf b. Weißenfels,
Germany; from
Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from
Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Veszprem, Hungary; from
Ron Wayman of Tampa Florida; from
John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from
Robert Lowton of Whaley Bridge, Peak District,
United Kingdom; from
José Geraldo Mattos of Florianópolis, Jurerê
Internacional, Santa Catarina, Brasil; from
Matthew Wastell of Brisbane, Australia; from
Kiss Csongor of Derecske, Hungary
February
2012 Aurora Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002]
