GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1): NOAA forcasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on 20th when a CME is expected to graze Earth's magnetic field. The CME was hurled into space by a powerful M7-class flare on May 17th, so even a glancing blow might be geoeffective. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
WHERE IS THIS CME GOING? Earlier today, a full halo CME billowed away from the sun. This movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows the storm cloud completely surrounding the solar disk:
The question is, where is it going? A NASA model of the CME suggests it is a farside event--heading directly away from Earth. On the other hand, NOAA analysts think it might be linked to a C6.7-flare from sunspot AR3683--heading directly toward Earth. Either geometry can produce a full halo.
If it is indeed heading for Earth, the CME should arrive on May 22nd. Stay tuned for updates. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
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MORE AURORAS IN AFRICA: For the first time in 30 years, Spaceweather.com has received photos of auroras in Africa. They appeared during the historic geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. The latest submissions come from Tivoli Astro Farm in Namibia where Richard Payne photographed the display:
"We could see the auroras with the naked eye," says Payne. "Visually, it was a deep red and very large--about 45 degrees vertical and 135 degrees horizontal."
Another guest at the farm, Georg Woeber, also saw the sky turn red. "It was amazing to see this happen from the Tropic of Capricorn (23° S)," says Woeber.
"This is certainly exceptional," says Hisashi Hayakawa, a space weather researcher at Japan’s Nagoya University. "To my knowledge, these are the first auroras in Namibia since 1989."
The display was also photographed from Namibia's Etosha National Park (18.9° S), from Farm Hakos near Windhoek, Namibia (22.5° S), and from a ship off the coast of Capetown, South Africa (32° S). These sightings confirm again that May 10th was a Great Storm, one of the biggest in the past 500 years.
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18K GOLD TOTAL ECLIPSE PENDANT: This pendant has touched the shadow of the Moon. On April 8, 2024, during a total eclipse of the sun in Texas, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Floating more than 118,110 feet high, the locket spent 3 minutes and 45 seconds wrapped in lunar shadow:
You can have it for $199.95. The 18K gold-plated locket is inscribed with the words "I love you to the Moon and back," and opens to hold a personal photo or other small item. It comes with a greeting card showing the locket in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space during the total eclipse.
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