A NEW SOURCE OF FLARES: A new sunspot emerging over the sun's southeastern limb exploded today, producing an M9-class solar flare (July 30 @ 1938 UT). Radiation from the almost-X-class flare caused a deep shortwave radio blackout over North America. As the sunspot turns toward Earth this week, we will get a better view of its magnetic field to evaluate its potential for more strong flares. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
EARLY CME IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection (CME) struck Earth's magnetic field on July 30th at 0027 UT. The impact sparked a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with photographic auroras as far south as Arizona:
"The auroras were not visible to the naked eye, but my camera was able to capture these faint red pillars from the south rim of the Grand Canyon," says photographer David Blanchard.
Faint auroras visible only to cameras is not what we expected from a potent Cannibal CME. But maybe this wasn't the Cannibal. A NOAA forecast model suggests an arrival time later on July 30th, so naked eye auroras might still be in the offing. Stay tuned. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
more images: from Aaron Watson in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado; from Chris Almquist of Ely, MN; from Jake Stehli of Winona, Minnesota
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ANATOMY OF A CANNIBAL CME: Over the weekend, the sun hurled multiple CMEs directly toward Earth. Individually, none of the CMEs was particularly impressive, but together they joined forces to form a potentially-potent "Cannibal CME." This NOAA model shows the process in action:
The model shows as many as four CMEs mashing together to form a single storm front. It begins on July 27th when two closely-spaced CMEs left the sun and immediately merged. Thus "cannibalized," they traveled toward Earth, snowplowing the solar wind in front of them. A third CME followed on July 28th. It raced through the void created by the first two, easily catching them. A fourth CME on July 29th will combine with the others after they pass Earth.
The combined effect of these CMEs (a triple-cannibal followed by one or two stragglers) could spark strong G3-class geomagnetic storms on July 30-31. If such a storm materializes, auroras should be visible at mid-latitudes across Europe and the USA. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
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SUNSPOT SUNSET: The source of all these CMEs is massive sunspot complex AR3764-67. Jan Koeman photographed them at sunset from the beach in Domburg, the Netherlands:
"As Solar Max comes nearer, the solar disk is peppered with amazing sunspots," says Koeman. "No filter was needed to image these, together with the windmills in the North Sea."
Caution: Even when the sun is hanging low and dimmed by haze and smoke, it is still dangerous. Sunlight magnified by optics can damage your eyes. If you want to photograph the sun without a solar filter, use the camera's LCD screen as a viewfinder. Never look through the optics!
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK AURORA PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Glow-in-the-Dark Aurora Pendant. On July 8, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $99.95. For 3 hours, the necklace floated 106,444 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California while radiation sensors inside the balloon's payload gathered data for the students' cosmic ray monitoring project. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and explaining the Earth to Sky Calculus radiation experiment.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space jewelry to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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