THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE NIGHT SKY IS ABOUT TO VANISH: On Monday night, Feb. 18th, asteroid 4388 Jürgenstock will eclipse Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, causing it to vanish for a fraction of a second. The event will be visible from southern parts of Chile and Argentina, Central America and the Caribbean. Get the full story here.
THE NEXT GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A canyon-shaped hole in the sun's atmosphere is facing Earth and spewing solar wind in our direction. Estimated time of arrival: Feb. 19th or 20th. G1-class geomagnetic storms and Arctic auroras are possible when the gaseous material makes contact with our planet's magnetic field.
Above: A false-color extreme UV image of the coronal hole. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory
This is a coronal hole--a region in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field peels back and allows solar wind to escape. It looks dark in ultraviolet images because hot-glowing plasma normally contained there is missing.
We've seen this coronal hole before. It formed in 2018 and has been spinning around with the sun, lashing Earth with solar wind approximately once a month. The last time its solar wind interacted with our planet, on Jan. 23rd, it sparked bright pink auroras around the Arctic Circle. Aurora Alerts: SMS text, email.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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PRO PLAN subscribers get a text message whenever a crack is opening in Earth's magnetosphere. Magnetic cracks are caused by south-pointing magnetic fields ("BsubZ") in the solar wind, which partially cancel Earth's magnetic defenses. Solar wind pours in through these cracks to fuel bright auroras and geomagnetic storms. Veteran aurora chasers know that watching "BsubZ" is the best way to anticipate geomagnetic activity. Now your cell phone can do this job for you, alerting you when cracks are forming in the invisible magnetic field overhead.
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