WE'RE OUT OF THE STRIKE ZONE: Active sunspot 4274 is no longer facing Earth. Today, it is beginning a 2-week trip around the farside of the sun. During that time, all of its flares and CMEs will miss our planet. Until a new and equally angry sunspot emerges, geoeffective solar activity should remain low. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR STORM DISTORTS ATOMIC-TIME RADIO SIGNALS: To ham radio operators, no sound is more soothing than the metronome broadcast of atomic time signals from WWV. It has rarely changed in more than 100 years. On Nov. 12th, however, it changed. Mike Backus (KB9ZDD) of Davis, Illinois, recorded strong distortions in the broadcast during a severe geomagnetic storm. Click on the image to listen:
Auroras over Mike Backus's backyard on Nov. 12, 2025. WWV recordings: #1, #2, #3.
"After standing outside staring in awe at the auroras, I decided to go back inside the house and see what the storm was doing to the bands," he says. "I tuned in to WWV from Fort Collins, Colorado, at 10 MHz. The warbling and heterodyning were impressive."
In addition to the transmission from Fort Collins, Backus also picked up an overlapping signal from the WWH station in Hawaii. "I generally struggle to receive Hawaii from my location," he says. "Radio propagation conditions were just haywire."
During strong geomagnetic storms, Earth's ionosphere becomes turbulent and full of bubbles. Rapid changes in electron density cause shortwave radio signals to flutter, creating warbling tones, wavering pitch, and "underwater" sounds. The same fluctuations can affect GPS receivers at much higher radio frequencies, causing GPS-guided farm equipment to act crazy.
Twelve hours later, the storm subsided, and Backus made another recording. The metronome was back to normal.
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ARCTIC NIGHT SPACE PENDENT: Are you looking for a far-out Christmas gift? Consider the Arctic Night Pendant . It has flown to the edge of space onboard an Earth to Sky cosmic ray research balloon, more than 105,546 ft high:
You can have it for $99.95. The heart-shaped pendant displays a loving pair of howling Arctic wolves, a shooting star, the full Moon, and rippling sheets of aurora borealis. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendent in flight and telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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