80% CHANCE OF MINOR STORMS: NOAA forecasters say there is an 80% chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on July 17th as Earth moves through the wake of a CME that hit our planet's magnetic field yesterday. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras after local nightfall. Free: Aurora Alerts
WEEKEND AURORA OUTBURST: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Sunday, July 16th, sparking more than 18 hours of almost non-stop geomagnetic storms. With storm levels reaching category G2, auroras spilled over the Canadian border into northern-tier US states such as Washington, Wyoming and Minnesota. The display was even better in the southern hemisphere, especially New Zealand, where "the first wave of auroras hit the beach right after the CME arrived," says Taichi Nakamura who sends this picture from Dunedin, NZ:
"It was a very peaceful and quiet winter beach with an exciting start of the night," says Nakamura.
At the other end of the Earth, Arctic summer sunlight overwhelmed many auroras. Citizen scientist Rob Stammes of the Polarlightcenter in Lofoten, Norway, detected the effects of the storm anyway ... in the ground beneath his feet.
"My instruments recorded a surge in ground currents shortly after the CME hit," he explains. The green curve denotes electricity flowing through the soil:
Ground currents are induced by the movement of Earth's magnetic field (the blue curve), rattling in response to the CME's impact. "I also detected a sudden increase in over-the-horizon radio signals (the yellow curve), indicating that the upper atmosphere was being ionized by the storm," he says.
SOLAR ECLIPSE SPACE PENDANTS: Would you like to support our Solar Eclipse Balloon Network? Here's one way: Buy a space pendant. This solar eclipse-themed necklace flew to the stratosphere on July 2, 2017, attached to the payload of an Earth to Sky Calculus space weather balloon:
The payload contained more just like it. If you buy one now for $79.95, we will fly it back to the stratosphere during the Great American Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017, where it will be enveloped by the Moon's cool shadow above our launch site in Oregon. No additional charge! Just make a note in the COMMENTS BOX of the shopping cart: "Please fly my pendant into the eclipse!" Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
More items from the edge of space may be found in the Earth to Sky Store. All proceeds support atmospheric radiation monitoring and hands-on STEM education.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery