GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (UPDATED): Today's M4-class solar flare, described below, hurled a CME into space. NOAA analysts have determined that it will likely hit Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of Aug. 28th. The
SOLAR FLARE AND CME: For the second day in a row, the sun is crackling with M-class solar flares. The strongest today, so far, is an M4-class flare from "perpendicular sunspot" AR3088. The blast sent a towering shock wave through the sun's atmosphere, recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
Above: The shock wave from an M4-class solar flare on Aug 27th (0240 UT).
Shock waves like this one usually hurl a CME into space. Indeed, SOHO coronagraphs have detected a CME emerging from the blast site.
NOAA forecast models suggest that the CME will sweep up another CME in front of it, possibly forming a "cannibal CME." The combined pair could sideswipe our planet's magnetic field during the late UT hours of Aug. 28th:
A similar NASA model shows the CME completely missing Earth. The disagreement highlights the uncertainty of the forecast. Even glancing-blow CMEs can spark geomagnetic storms, so high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on Aug. 28-29 despite the uncertainty.
Meanwhile, sunspot AR3088 is growing and seems poised to unleash an X-flare. Stay tuned! Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
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SUMMER AURORAS IN ICELAND: Perfect timing. With a CME bearing down on Earth, midnight skies in Iceland are getting dark enough to see auroras. On Aug. 26th, Christopher Mathews photographed this display west of Seljalandsfoss:
"There wasn't even a geomagnetic storm," says Mathews. "The planetary K index, Kp, was only 2. But we had clear skies and as I was driving down the road I noticed the sky turning green. I managed this shot of the road lit by a passing car and the skies lit by a passing solar breeze."
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THE VERNAL EQUINOX PEARL: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Vernal Equinox Pearl, launched to the edge of space onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Here it is, floating 111,202 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $179.95. The 10mm cultured white pearl, surrounded by a crystalline splash of spring-green cubic zirconia, spent more than 2 hours in the stratosphere as sensors in the payload measured cosmic rays.
Each purchase comes with a greeting card showing the pearl in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
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