MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS: A minor G1-class geomagnetic storm is in progress on Feb. 10th as Earth passes through the magnetized wake of a CME that arrived yesterday. Auroras are dancing around the Arctic Circle:
"Boom!" says photographer Chad Blakley, who is watching the display from Abisko, Sweden. "Green bands are rippling across our sky right now. You can watch them on the Lights over Lapland aurora webcam."
This storm is expected to continue for some hours, possibly spilling into Feb 11th. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. Auroras alerts: SMS Text.
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
THE STARLINK INCIDENT: As many as 40 Starlink satellites are currently falling out of the sky--the surprising result of a minor geomagnetic storm. SpaceX made the announcement yesterday:
"On Thursday, Feb. 3rd at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ... Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday, [Feb. 4th]."
Two days before launch a CME hit Earth's magnetic field. It was not a major space weather event. In fact, the weak impact did not at first spark any remarkable geomagnetic activity. However, as Earth passed through the CME's wake, some sputtering G1-class geomagnetic storms developed. It was one of these minor storms that caught the Starlink satellites on Feb. 4th.
Geomagnetic storms heat Earth's upper atmosphere. Diaphanous tendrils of warming air literally reached up and grabbed the Starlink satellites. According to SpaceX, onboard GPS devices detected atmospheric drag increasing "up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches."
"The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag," says SpaceX. "Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere."
The Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe apparently caught one of the reentries over Puerto Rico on Feb. 7th:
SpaceX says that the deorbiting satellites "pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground."
Keep an eye on the night sky this week. You might catch a Starlink satellite burning up overhead. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
A sharable permalink to this story is available here: The Starlink Incident.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
VALENTINE'S GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Does your sweetheart love space? Their perfect Valentine's gift may be in the Earth to Sky Store. All items in the store have flown to the edge of space on board cosmic ray research balloons. From now until Feb. 14th, everything is 10% off:
Each purchase comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. Don't forget to enter the coupon code "ILOVESPACE" for your Valentine's discount!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education