SUBSIDING GEOMAGNETIC STORM: The first geomagnetic storm of 2020 (category G1) took forecasters by surprise this morning when a CME impact sparked bright auroras over Canada and some northern-tier US states. After 6 hours of G1-class storming, Earth's magnetic field is quieting now, lowering the odds of more auroras tonight. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
"Northern lights danced across the entire northwestern Montana sky early this morning," reports Philip Granrud. "I photographed them with a wide angle lens on top of my car several miles outside of Kalispell."
"It was such a nice break from everything that's been going on in the world lately," he says.
This is the first geomagnetic storm of 2020. In fact, the last time storm levels reached G1 on NOAA Storm Scales was more than a year ago: March 16-17, 2019.
The cause of the storm appears to be a faint slow-moving CME (coronal mass ejection) that left the sun on April 15th, shown here in an animation from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
This CME was not squarely Earth-directed, and forecasters did not think it was likely to hit our planet. Nevertheless, it apparently did. Solar wind data suggest that the CME sideswiped Earth with a snowplow-like buildup of plasma shortly after 0130 UT on April 20th.
Did you miss the storm? Subscribers to our Space Weather Alert Service received real-time text messages alerting them to this event. Pro Plan subscribers were forewarned when cracks began to appear in Earth's magnetic field immediately following the CME impact. Basic Plan subscribers received text messages as soon as the G1-storm erupted. Sign up now and never miss another geomagnetic storm.
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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A BLACK PEARL IN THE STRATOSPHERE: It came from Tahiti--and now it's been to the edge of space. On Feb. 27, 2020, this genuine Black Tahitian South Sea Cultured Pearl flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, soaring more than 100,000 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $229.95. The students are selling these exotic space pearls to fund their cosmic ray monitoring program. Measuring 10 mm in diameter, the pearl has an 18K white gold clasp and is suspended from a matching 925 Sterling Silver chain. Each pearl comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
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STARLINK SATELLITES PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE ISS: For the first time, SpaceX's controversial Starlink satellites have been photographed by astronauts onboard the International Space Station. Here they are, photobombing a display of aurora australis on April 13, 2020:
The ISS was flying over the southern Indian Ocean when the sighting occurred with cameras pointing generally south toward Antarctica. At the time, a minor stream of solar wind was buffeting Earth's magnetic field, sparking auroras over the frozen continent. The Starlink train stretches all the way from the twilight-blue horizon to the starry sky high above the aurora layer.
Dutch satellite expert Marco Langbroek identified the Starlink satellites and labeled the original NASA image. "These are all objects from the 17 February 2020 launch--- a.k.a. 'Starlink 4,'" Langbroek wrote in his blog.
Starlink is a new venture by SpaceX, which aims to surround Earth with satellites and beam affordable internet to remote locations all over the world. It is controversial because of its potential effect on the night sky. Just after launch, Starlink satellites easily can be seen with the unaided eye, swarming across stars and planets familiar to backyard astronomers. Scott Tucker of Tucson, Arizona, was photographing Venus on the evening of April 17th when this happened:
"I watched 41 Starlink satellites from the most recent launch pass by Venus during late twilight," says Tucker. "One of them even flared like an Iridium satellite! It got to magnitude -2 for a few seconds."
Newly-launched Starlink satellites eventually dim as they approach operational orbits 550 km above Earth--but even then they can interfere with research astronomy. Big telescopes have no trouble detecting Starlink satellites no matter how high they go. The fact that SpaceX plans to launch at least 12,000 of them has prompted the International Astronomical Union to sound the alarm.
So far, there are 360 Starlinks into Earth orbit, a tiny fraction of the ultimate total, yet still a large number. Accidental sightings have become so common that we now have an entire photo gallery of Starlink sightings. Browse the collection and see what you think.
Realtime Starlink Photo Gallery
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter