SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Strong (G3) to severe (G4) geomagnetic storms are possible on Nov. 12th and 13th in response to three CMEs now approaching Earth. This includes a potent CME from today's X5-flare, which is moving so fast it might overtake and sweep up the CMEs ahead of it. The arrival of such a "Cannibal CME" could spark auroras in more than half of all US states. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
A 'GROUND LEVEL EVENT' IS UNDERWAY: Today's X5-class solar flare from sunspot 4274 hurled a fusillade of energetic protons toward Earth. Some of the particles are so powerful, they are penetrating the atmosphere all the way to the ground. "This is a very significant event," says Professor Clive Dyer of the Surrey Space Centre. "Neutron monitors around the world are detecting it."
This is called a Ground Level Event (GLE). GLEs of this magnitude are rare; they happen only once or twice every solar cycle. "This one is comparable to the GLE of Dec. 13, 2006," says Dyer. That makes it a ~20-year event.
For comparison, during the 2006 GLE, passengers on high-latitude air flights experienced a peak dose rate of 25-30 microSieverts per hour at cruising altitude. This translated to an estimated 20% increase in the total effective radiation dose. Something similar may be happening now.
"Analysis of today's GLE will help us prepare for larger events such as a repeat of 23 February 1956, which is soon to have its 70th anniversary and gave a thousandfold increase in radiation at 40000 feet," says Dyer.
Meanwhile in space, the solar protons are peppering satellites, creating a hailstorm in imaging systems:
All of the 'snow' in this animation from SOHO's C3 coronagraph is caused by energetic particles striking the camera's CCD detector. Fogging of cameras is an important side-effect of strong radiation events.
Stay tuned for updates.
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A GIFT FOR TOLKIEN FANS -- THE ONE RING OVER HOBBITON: Need a Christmas gift for a Tolkien fan? Consider the One Ring over Hobbiton. During a rare South Pacific balloon flight, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this ring to the stratosphere directly over the movie set for Peter Jackson's Lord of the RIngs:
You can have it for $199.95. On the southern winter solstice, June 21st, it reached an altitude of 108,345 feet, flying alongide a suite of cosmic radiation sensors that the students use to monitor atmospheric radiation. The ring is made of gold-plated tungsten and inscribed with the authentic Mordor script of the One Ring.
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