LARGE SUNSPOTS ARE TURNING TOWARD EARTH: An impressive group of large sunspots is emerging over the sun's southeastern limb. The group's detailed magnetic configuration is not yet known. However, we know it's explosive. A powerful X3.3-class solar flare just exploded from the sunpot group's magnetic canopy. Keep reading! Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE AND CME: Emerging sunspot AR3869 erupted this morning (Oct. 24th @ 0357 UTC), producing a slow X3.3-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the hour-long flash:
Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere. This, in turn, caused a shortwave radio blackout over Australia and Southeast Asia. Ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare.
Of greater interest is the coronal mass ejection. The explosion launched a bright CME into space:
The bulk of this CME will miss Earth, but there is an Earth-directed component. According to a NASA model, the CME's flank will strike our planet on Oct 26th (around 0600 UTC). The glancing blow could cause a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
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AMBER DRAGONFLY SPACE PENDANT: This dragonfly has touched space. On Oct 24th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, 105,108 feet above California's Sierra Nevada:
You can have it for $219.95. Made of genuine Baltic Amber with a sterling silver exoskeleton, the rich Cognac-colored pendant measures 3/4 inch and comes with a matching 18-inch sterling silver chain.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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A BIG DEVELOPMENT IN SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING: Imagine a giant CME heading straight for Earth, but no one knew it was coming. Space weather forecasters have long worried about such a scenario. Our best early warning system for CMEs is a coronagraph onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which was launched in Dec. 1995. How long can such an ancient spacecraft be expected to last?
We can stop worrying. Yesterday, NOAA unveiled its replacement, the CCOR-1 solar coronagraph onboard the new GOES-19 satellite:
Using an occulting disk (the dark blue circle at the center of the video) to block the glare of the sun, CCOR-1 delivers uninterrupted monitoring of CMEs with a new image every 15 minutes. GOES-19 is currently undergoing post-launch testing and checkout of its instruments, including the coronagraph. In spring 2025, NOAA will begin using CCOR-1 for regular CME forecasts.
SOHO, meanwhile, will continue monitoring the sun as it has done for almost 30 years. This incredible spacecraft has discovered more than 5000 sungrazing comets and helped forecasters predict hundreds of strong geomagnetic storms. Long may it live!
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