The Oneness Zone

Spacecraft Pick up Earthly Aurora

A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on Sept. 15, but it did not spark the strong display of auroras many people were hoping to see. In the CME's wake, however, a fast solar wind stream is blowing past Earth and buffeting our planet's magnetic field. This could cause mild geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers in Canada and Alaska should remain alert for auroras tonight. Since Sept. 7, this one sunspot, AR 798, produced nine X-class flares, the most powerful classification. In fact, it has made September 2005 the most active month on the sun since March 1991 and the Sept. 7 record-setting X-17 flare was the fifth largest ever observed.

With the exception of brief radio blackouts, the flares have had little effect on Earth, although the NOAA Space Environment Center warns that as the spot continues to rotate toward Earth, agencies impacted by space weather storms may experience disruptions over the next two weeks. These include spacecraft operators, electric power systems, high frequency communications, and low-frequency navigation systems.

This sunspot is the same one that erupted in mid-August, sparking strong auroras as far south as Utah and Colorado. Over the past two weeks, the active region produced a series of significant solar eruptions as it made its way around the back-side of the Sun (facing away from Earth). Auroras were spotted over the weekend in unusual places like New York, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire.

http://www.physlink.com/News/050920Aurora.cfm

posted by fusionlin @ 10:29 AM