STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM PREDICTED: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading straight for Earth. NOAA forecasters say that strong G3-class geomagnetic storms are possible when it arrives on Dec. 9th. The full halo CME was launched on Dec. 6th by an M8-class solar flare from sunspot 4299. If it is as potent as NOAA thinks, it could spark auroras from the Arctic Circle to mid-latitude US states. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
ANOTHER X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: High solar activity continued this morning with an X1-class solar flare from sunspot 4298. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme ultraviolet flash:
Although the explosion was intense, it was also very brief--too brief to lift a significant CME out of the sun's atmosphere. As a result, this flare will not add additional mass to the CME already en route for the predicted Dec. 9th geomagnetic storm. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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THE VIEW FROM THE FLIGHT DECK: The storm hasn't even started, but auroras are already dancing around the Arctic Circle. Pilot Matt Melnyk saw them Dec. 7th while flying 37,000 feet over Greenland:
"Another successful flight on the Dreamliner!" says Melnyk. "This flight was from Calgary to London. The almost-full Moon lit up the ground and clouds below very nicely."
Melnyk didn't need a geomagnetic storm because Greenland lies beneath Earth's persistent auroral oval. A daily rain of solar wind electrons guided to Earth by our planet's curved magnetic field creates a polar ring of Northern Lights. No storm is required. It just glows.
It will glow a lot more on Dec. 9th if the predicted G3 storm occurs. Stay tuned for more photos from the flight deck! Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
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