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Just days after a wave of geomagnetic activity sparked amazing displays of northern lights as far south as Iowa, another space storm is on its way from the sun - and could hit us as early as Tuesday.
The wave of electrically charged particles, also known as a coronal mass ejection, was sent out over the weekend. At the time, astronomers thought the ejection would miss Earth completely, but imagery from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory now suggests that part of the storm was blown out in our direction.
Like the last storm, this blast doesn't look as if it's strong enough to create significant problems for electricity grids, satellites or navigation devices. But SpaceWeather.com says "high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives, probably on August 10."
If the storm does spark auroras, that would provide just one more reason for folks in northern latitudes to look up at the night sky after midnight. The Perseid meteor shower is nearing its expected peak on Thursday, and the reports so far suggest that the light show will at least live up to expectations. There's also a nice planetary triangle (Mars, Venus and Saturn) hanging in western skies after sunset.
Here's a recap of resources for aurora watchers:
- Day-by-day aurora forecasts from GEDDS at University of Alaska
- Space Weather Prediction Center's aurora-viewing tips
- Map of current auroral activity from prediction center
- Soft Serve News: Aurora borealis activity forecast
- SpaceWeather.com coverage of auroral activity
It's not a sure bet that anyone in the United States will see the aurora this time around, but it is a sure bet that if pictures of the northern lights are taken - say, in Scandinavia or Canada - some of them will show up in SpaceWeather.com's aurora gallery. Stay tuned for updates on the space storm as well as the meteor shower later this week.
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Leave a Comment:
Fascinating!
We have event like this before, I belive will be more like, the sun explosion are not new, probably are part of the internal nuclear fusion which are consum the mass and produce the expansion of the sun in to our planetary lot.
I have a questions, if in the future a mass solar explosion take place could destroy the magnetic feel? if the case we kwon what could happens? what the life on the planet from that moment on, I belive the amount of radiation will recibe will be tremendous. Mr Alan you have any idea but that?
I guess Alan Boyle does not consider Alaska part of the US. He should have said Continental US.
A few more of these and 2012 starts to look a tad more daunting.
Eduardo,
The magnetic field is due to the rotation of the earth and some complex internal things with the iron and other minerals in the molten core. That may not be an exact explanation, but it doesn't have anything to do with the sun or solar flares. The earth's magnetic field could change by a change in the rotation or internal forces we don't totally understand, but those changes will probably be gradual and not like the overnight changes in the science fiction movies.
The sun has it's own magnetic field and emmanations from that are referred to as the solar wind.
The solar wind and particles from the sun can definitely be a problem for satellites and spacecraft. Most of these solar flares just cause the aurora effects and the shielding on the satellites protects them for levels it was designed for. A storm beyond what the shielding could handle could cause electronics to fail, act unpredictably, or be totally fried depending on how strong the bursts were and what was hitting them. Our upper atmosphere really does a pretty good job of shielding us from most of the cosmic radiation and other storms from space, so it would take a very intensive hit to cause problems in the lower atmosphere, but although very unlikely in the short term, it could happen from either our sun or a distant event if we're unlucky enough to be in a directed burst.
Something like the Carrington Event that happened in 1859 could happen again.
Early telegraph systems were burned out, and a few people were killed.
I understand that railroad tracks were even found to be burned into their wooden ties.
The sun may not cause the Earth's magnetic field, but it certainly affects it very dramatically. the very shape of the magnetic field is due to "space weather". solar winds blow the magnetosphere around violently. This causes auroras and geomagnetic storms. some radiation from the Sun gets caught in the Van Allen radiation belt.
To say the Earth's magnetic field has "nothing to do with the Sun or solar flares" is not at all accurate.
I'm sure you knew all this but we need to keep our comments from containing misleading information. As lovers of science and technology I feel it's our duty to only pass on information that is (to the best of our knowledge) accurate.
And how could anyone make the assertion that an intense hit that would cause problems in the lower atmosphere "happening in the short term is unlikely"? I'd really like to know what that assumption is based on.