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Canadian Space Agency
This fisheye view of the auroral display above Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories was captured by the Canadian Space Agency's AuroraMAX project early Saturday.
Last updated 1:45 p.m. ET Jan. 22:
Forecasters say a blast from the sun should strike a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field, starting Sunday, and create a mild geomagnetic storm. That's not enough to pose a planetary threat, but the storm should spark better-than-usual auroral displays. Skywatchers are already getting some great pictures in advance of the peak.
The blast, known as a coronal mass ejection, was witnessed by sun-watching spacecraft on Thursday — and at the time, NASA projected that the geomagnetic impact on Earth would be felt today. But experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado say the peak will come later.
"We're looking at it to start on Sunday, about 1 o'clock [p.m.] Eastern time," Joe Kunches, a space scientist at the prediction center, told me today.
The storm of electrically charged particles is projected to take a relatively non-threatening path past our planet. "We think it'll go to the north of Earth ... rather than right at us," he said.
The center's prediction projects that the "bulk of the disturbance" should occur on Monday. But even then, the storm will be a G1, which is the lowest ranking on the scale of geomagnetic activity. Such a storm generally produces weak fluctuations in electrical grids and has the potential for minor effects on satellite operations — basically, nothing for regular folks to worry about.
The main effect is expected to be bright northern lights that could be visible farther south than usual. In northern regions, aurora aficionados are already seeing some fantastic fireworks. Keep watch up above, particularly if you're in an area with clear, dark skies. Keep watch for updates in SpaceWeather.com's January aurora gallery as well. The Canadian Space Agency has its AuroraMAX webcam working in the Northwest Territories, and you can even sign up for updates via the project's Twitter account, @AuroraMAX.
If you have pictures to share, please pass them along via the Cosmic Log Facebook page or msnbc.com's FirstPerson in-box, and we'll put together a gallery of our own on Monday.
Update for 1:45 p.m. ET Jan. 22: The Space Weather Prediction Center is showing a rise in solar particle flux, and European observers are passing along some great pictures. Among the places to check, in addition to SpaceWeather.com, are the Aurora Sky Station in Sweden, the Facebook page for Iurie Belegurschi Photography in Iceland and this awesome Vimeo video (plus Flickr page) from Norway (play it at full screen for full effect):
Have you come across other websites or pages on Facebook or Google+ with great sights of the northern lights? Feel free to pass them along in your comments below. One caveat, though: Newbies may not have the capability to pass along Web links, so you might have to spell them out, as in www-dot-cosmiclog-dot-com. And as always, be cautious when clicking on external links.
Check out our gallery of the weekend's auroral awesomeness
More great auroral views:
- Northern lights go way, way south
- Speed through Lapland's lights
- Beautiful blasts from solar storms
- Get a video view of Canada's aurora
- Slideshow: The best of the northern lights
- Cosmic Log's auroral archive
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
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Definitely will look forward to some of the upcoming shots on this next week. Thanks for the heads up and the links provided in the story.
The aurora gallery link above has some beautiful shots. The one with the igloo in the foreground makes an interesting composition but they are all great.
I have witnessed this beautiful display in person but it was many years ago and it is hard to forget.
Thats not form solar activity it is from HAARP
stop listening to dutchsinse videos on youtube- hes haarptarded!
foil hat......
Awhile back, I had said 2012 will be the year of the solar flares and someone had said it isnt happening... Hopefully they dont increase in size and violence has the year progresses..
-Sam, your omniprescience is dumbfounding...
omniprescience
The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.
Next time stick to words you know, more basic and smaller words..
you said???--lol- scientists said it 10 years ago since 2012- 2013 is the peak of our 11 year cycles- but ofcourse you can take all the credit for what most people already knew for years
The top picture looks like an unborn child to me. What do you think?
Just strung some hotdogs on an old coathanger & hung it out on the backyard clothesline, Hoping that tonights aurora will have them nice and bubbly brown for lunch tomorrow!
Wish me luck!
Nothing more spectacular than the sky's light shows.
Beautiful! I'm getting out my 3-D glasses!!!!
I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan...so I have the perfect viewing area...I can't wait!!
now there's something michigan offers to look forward too. who knew.
I live in the lower part of MI, I will be watching on Sunday, and the upcoming week! For Once a positive thing Can Happen in Michigan.
Saw them many time from McMurdo Station, Antarctica in the total darkness of July, 1965. Beautiful blues and whites that waved overhead like stage curtains. They looked so close you could reach up and touch them. But, alas, they were just out of reach (150,000 feet or so).
"...to the north of Earth." Al, that guy you interviewed was a freshman high school student, not a Ph.D. I think you been punk'd. A scientist would have described it as "passing over the northern hemisphere," don't you think? =)
Well, Joe took a while after that quote to make clear that the brunt would pass above Earth in an alignment toward celestial north ... it's one of those things that makes sense even if the quote sounds funny. But yes, I suppose that's roughly the same thing as saying it would pass over the northern hemisphere ... only much higher.
Alan Boyle.....thanks for this article.....a few more photo's would have been nice also....I see you'll have more on Monday...I'll keep an eye out for them....thanks again......
Thanks for being a good sport, Al. =) You have a great way of connecting with your readers. Hopefully you've got a better vantage point than we do in Bellingham. If there's one thing about living here that drives me crazy, it's the astronomy-unfriendly skies. =(
Sorry, Warren, it's not much better here in Bellevue. As a matter of fact, there are some spots around Bellingham where you can get some pretty dark skies. But the cloud factor is kind of a bummer.
NW PA is not very clear sky friendly any time a show in the night sky occurs. No light pollution to contend with, just the clouds. With any luck, since there isn't a chance for precip tonight, the auroras will prevail.
I ate something bad for lunch and now i got to go have a coronal mass ejection myself. i am taking it you guys don't want to watch my display of aurora asstralis!
the light bands will be a beautiful shade of doodoo brown!
There will be the equivalent of a coronal mass ejection tomorrow after the defeat of the New York Giants and the New England Patriots!
@Republic! -- you're looking at tomorrow's Bizarro World News. You've got it all backwards.
Republic! has it correct! Ravens AFC Champions today, Super Bowl champs in two weeks!
Well, it's the day after and the prognosticators were wrong. Sad to see the 49ers and Ravens didn't make it to the big game. Better luck next time.
Well, tomorrow we'll know if it really misses us.
This Is Aurora Boring Alice in a really big way!
My families cell phones stopped receiving calls and we can not make outgoing calls or send text messages. We are getting call failed or text message send failed. This started a few hours ago and we have Verizon and live in central Ohio. I am not sure if it is due to the solar flares, but this has not happened before. I hope my pacemaker is still working lol.
maybe verizon has another failure , or its gettin like AT&T :P
The cell service has now been restored. I saw a story on the local news saying it would be down for about 2 hours. They were not sure how widespread the outage was, and they did not know what caused it.
At around 5pm pacific time our Verizon phones went down and are still down as of 10pm. Also the ATM's are all down! Went out for pizza and they are only taking cash cuz their cc machines are down. We are in California in the foothills of the Sierras.
May be pretty right now but the solar flares and solar storms slated to hit earth pretty full force are going to be bad, they say the worst solar storm ever. Scientist also say that the earht's atomosphere may not be dense enough any more to deflect the raditation like it used to. We go thru these storms every 10 to 20 yrs or so. But the say these are not like the old days! I noticed one perso already having issues with cell service in mid west??
Do I think the earth is gonna end i 2012, no but, If I were living in an urban area I would be stocking up on some kind of protection against house invaders and roving bands of people trying to get the supplies they need to survive, even if it is at the cost of your life! Scientists say you can expect to be without electric power in (i assume) urban areas for weeks maybe a month or more, there will be little or no electronic communication since the EMP from the solar storms will fry all electronics, computers, telephones, cell phones, power grid controls and electonic switches and breakers. There will be not enough food to sustain a large population like say NY or LA or Chicago etc, I think you should start to prepare to stock up dry goods and canned goods and water for at least 3 -6 months, batteries and maybe a small generator, hand cranked emergency lights, candles, blankets, sleeping bags, maybe propane camping stoves.
OH by the way we have already been allowed to see the future with Katrina total breakdown of society with no law and order, people killing police and other s to steal from them. Look at London, France, middle east Greeece, the break down of civilian authority was massive. Oh by the way thanks to the DEmocrats they are gonna rape the militray services so, don't expect the US troops to have enough resources to come swoop in and rescue half the 320,000,000 people here. Again do I think that the world is gonna end...no!
But I do think that the state of the world is so fragile that a world wide event like intense solar storms and solar radiation crashing all or a majority of our FAILING INFRASTRUCTURe, some what caused by municipal labor unions notr realizing the states and country are broke, and can't pay the lifetime medical or retirement at more than their regular salary, and fix the schools/roads/bridges/hospitals etc and have enough money to pay for fire and police and services. So when a major disaster comes like scientists are predicting with intense solar storms blasting the earth and knocking out financial market systems and banks and government systems could just push the US and many countries over into total failure and anarchy!
BTW don't expect the government to come on tv and say gee folks the solar flares are coming we can't take care of everyone or protect everyone, so be prepared for the worst especially the large urban centers where looters always strike and law and order will certainly break down first so stock up and protect yourselves the best you can! they would have 8 million people trying to exit NYC alone!
Do I think the earth is gonna end? No! Am I gonna have a couple extra cans of beans on hand and some water fuels generator batteries, guins and ammo you betcha...... I hope I don't have to come out after it all settles down in 3 or 6 months and say "I TOLD YOU SO!"
Oh brother......
Do you live on doomsday scenarios? Even if it interrupted electonic devices, life would continue for those of us who are not totally dependent on those things. If my car stops working, I'll walk. If I can't use my computer, so what? I'm old enough to remember how to live life before computers and it would be just a matter of going back to that lifestyle. Don't own a cell phone, no worries there. My biggest issue would be no electricity, but if people in third world countries can survive without it, so can I. As far as food goes, yes, there may be distruption to the food system, but not to the degree you state. I just might not eat the same things I'm able to eat now, but it won't prevent food from being grown. And eating fresh fruits and vegetables would be healthier.
I am sorry but are you like 7 years old? I couldn't read past your first paragraph to realize that either you had to ride the short bus to school or you are really 7 years old and have no clue on what is really going on right now. Please don't write such long comments if you cannot spell correctly. If you are 7 or really had to ride the short bus is one thing but if you are a grown up like almost everybody else that utilzes our free speech on line, please have some courtise and show it and not ramble on about nothing.
What a hoot, don,t walk by this guys house during a storm, he'll be taking pop shots at the whole neighborhood...LMAO
There is no need for people to get online to make fun of other peoples remarks!! There's not one person online or that gets online that is perfect, so why be-little someone's concerns? I for one agree with Doug, I have done my research in depth and know what is to come. If those of you that have put your bibles away would get them back out and read(Revelation) would see whats to come and what is being fullfilled. Doug, dont give up, keep spreading the word. Also there's a Pastor on Youtube named Paul Begley, check him out, very intelligent man...ooops, did I spell that wrong? Sorry, Im only 7 years old.... Peace & Love all!!!!
"May be pretty right now but the solar flares and solar storms slated to hit earth pretty full force are going to be bad, they say the worst solar storm ever."
Where did you get that misinformation? This is predicted to be the lowest intensity on the scale. Of course, how could I forget, it was predicted by the Mayan calendar!
his information here is wrong but hes right that a massive geomagnetic storm like the one that hit in 1859 may wipe out power for months - that also means no tv cell communications radio sattelites banking etc so alot of his advice is actually valid despite what the mayans did or did not predict - not even having radio to keep abreast of whats going on- here in seattle people have been without power for 4-5 days in the cold and youd be suprised how quickly human nature shows its ugly side
Doug is actually partially correct as someone else mentioned. Granted it's been about 10 years since I read about this, but as I understand it, the large transformers they have in electrical substations all across the country are especially susceptible to damage from large geomagnetic storms and they don't have enough of them stock piled to handle the kind of large outage we could experience from a repeat of the 1859 storm. If the country is without power for months you won't be able to get gas or access your money. If nobody gets gas, it would disrupt the country's food distribution system (via trucks) and supermarkets will dry up within days. Water pumps would no longer work. Fresh water would have to come from lakes and rivers. That would undoubtedly become a martial law type situation. Now the part that he's totally wrong about. We have absolutely no way to predict solar storms until the CME happens....in which case we might have a couple of days warning.
Thanks for the heads-up, doug. I've sent my trusty man-servant out to quaduple my already-ample stocks of cheap hookers, Cuban cigars, Viagra, and single-malt Scotch. This was how I got through Katrina (watching the fly-blown floating dead dogs on TV was traumatic!) and I believe the technique will serve me well to get through this.
I'll reciprocate with this tip: if I gets really bad with the solar radiation, the thing to do is to take the Seattle City Light powerhouse tour at Boundary Dam on the Pend Oreille River in northeast Washington state. It is situated inside a giant chunk of granite, and all the low-tech control mechanisms for the power plant would be completely shielded from harmful EMP. The employee lunchroom has a refrigerator where you can store your lunch in all weathers/fallout intensities.
You will remember the face of this dam as the place where Tom Petty hung his village in the Kevin Costner apocalyptic epic The Postman, which I'm sure is in the DVD collections of all your survivalist buddies. I've got Cody Lundin's phone number around here somewhere, too, if you don't mind going barefoot...
actually emps if strong can penetrate 6-7 miles into the earth- or atleast thats what a discovery channel special said- - but i live in washington and know the place well so ill see you there
There are alot of changes blowing in the wind. Not many people realize the danger we the people are in.
Does anyone know what "The Alien Invasion Act" Congress is working on is about?
I think the govt is working on a staged Alien invasion.
And they're inviting Bigfoot and the Tooth Fairy to the premiere performance
you smoke to much weed!
Something's not right about this, how could those scientific kooks predict something that actually happens.....Obama surely has something to do with this propaganda...................
LOL, sorry I'm just getting my GOP on
Hey doug-1025299,
Dude, Dude, Dude...
You need to relax. Go get a message. Go to the Go-Go bar and visit the VIP.
"Solar radiation to destroy the United States? Movie at 11."
Even if you're right and all the electronics in the country get fried from some SUPER-MEGA-EMP, society isn't coming to an end.
Look, people die in a Nor'Easter when the power gets knocked out because of the ice, wind and snow. It's always good advice to have some dried food, water and batteries in the house (maybe a handgun in the safe with child proof locks) but come on dude.
You seriously need to relax and step away from the FOX NEWS.
Look, I know the last decade has been traumatic. It's been hard on us all. Katrina scared a lot of people...but that was because Bush cut the funding to FEMA and hired incompetents.
That said, there are no guarantees in life..and the sad fact is that society (in particularly as it's more dependent on systems for support, systems which are strained) could have a partial collapse of some kind. One takes reasonable precautions and then lives his life.
But there are more urgent issues, like the rising cost of food due to the rising cost of oil. This society is a mechanized one and the machine runs on oil, which is running out. Not to mention that fossil fuels are damaging the environment leading to storms like Katrina and other extreme weather conditions. Which, arguably are a greater threat to our long term health and survival.
That said, it's in our power to fix.
I know, it's not as exciting as an episode of Jericho (that bad CBS show) but come on dude.
Else, you can always go live in a cabin the woods, canning you're own peaches and waiting for the holocaust.
I live in the north, so im used to seeing the Aurora Borealis. Its natures light show.
And theres no need for hysteria, this has happened many times before. If you are that worried, you can alway screen mesh your house with copper wire. It will protect you from any emp blast. And will also stop any solar radiation. Its the tinfoil hat for your house. lol
I need to get a nice telescope, sucks they are so expensive..
You don't say where you are in the north...but...if you are near a college town that has an Astronomy Dept. you might see if the dept. is planning a view in of the event. Many colleges set up for these events and often welcome/enjoy having interested persons come out and join them.
Not to rub it in...and it seems there is no justice....I have a Celestron deep sky telescope...BUT.. it's Sunday morning, cloudy & rain/snow is expected for the next two days. So-o-o-o-o-o I guess I won't get to see this one.
Mr. Boyle, very nice article. Here in St. Louis, we never had the opportunity to see the northern lights and traveling north to see them is currently not an option. I only wish you could have included more photos with your article. I know you have some links listed but I tend to stay away from links as I've gotten some nasty viruses in the past.
I'm hoping we'll have some good ones for Monday, Dan. If you go to http://www.spaceweather.com you'll see some wonderful pictures. Spaceweather.com is a good site, no viruses as far as I know, and you can just type it into your browser window.
I live in MN and I remember back in November of 2004 cleaning my knife down by the lake and looking up and seeing the most incredible northern lights. The colors ran the spectrum and they were dancing all over the sky. I went up and got some beers and my other hunting buddies and we watched the show for an hour, even though it was near 0 outside. As I recall those northern lights made it down to Neb. What a show it was. This year we should see more on the level that I saw back then. You could even make out a circle in the sky from where the particles were entering the atmosphere.
I regret living at a lower latitude and cannot see this beautiful natural phenomenon.
The more the media keeps telling me not to worry the more worried I get.
If there is nothing to worry about, why do they keep having to repeat it over and over every day?
Because hype lives forever on the Internet. We're still having to cope with the "Mars as big as the moon" hoax every August ... a myth that goes back to 2003.
God fingerpainting the sky.
And what an Artist he is.
A sure sign Man-made Global Warming is going to kill us all.
Alan,
Thanks for the good article and links.
Mr. Boyle, thank you for an interesting article. And your statement about the G-1 classification makes more sense than the previous M-2/M-3 mentioned in the article I read yesterday, (or was it Friday. Doggone days are getting confusing this time of year. Wonder if i need a tin foil hat:) Nope. Guess I forgot what I just wrote.)
Again, thank you.
Yes, there are different scales for different types of phenomena ... so an M3-class flare can be associated with a G1-class geomagnetic storm.
I had the good fortune to be stationed in Alaskan "outback" for a year, back in the day, and got to witness these wonderful phenomena on several occasions. Watching them move against a dark sky under bitterly cold conditions was otherworldly and awesome.
The EMP effects from these ejections can cause serious disruptions to the power grids and satellites, so hopefully all these different electronics are designed with this in mind. Of greater concern is the damage an EMP weapon could do.
Wally, your statement about the damage caused by manmade EMP is valid, as is the disruptions to the power grid.
The problems we, as a continent, are suffering from an advanced age power grid, are getting to be serious. Until, we, as a people, get together, and force the responsible groups, (politicians, electrical suppliers, etc.) to put some of the funds they have into maintenance and upgrades, this problem is just going to get worse.
In the meantime, enjoy the natural beauty we can see, as you stated in the first part of your comment.
Slightly off-topic, but related, does anyone posting have any connection to cancer research? To my untrained mind, from observing, and listening, and watching, reports from the northern climes, there seems to some correlation to the higher incidences of different cancers in this region to these "northern lights."
I have heard reports of some native North American continent groups/clans/tribes being very leery of the "lights," in their lore. Some studiers of these groups have stated a belief there may be some actual facts related to signicant events in their history. Again, I must reiterate this is just hearsay on my part, and garnered from decades of personal observation of different things, (not just watching TV, or reading newspapers, but also reading different books, some fact, some fiction.)
Is there a reason why the lights are green? What affects the aurora lights' color?
Yes, green is the most common color emitted by the oxygen atoms in an auroral glow. Here's more about that:
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/27/7997049-red-sky-at-night-astronauts-delight?chromedomain=cosmiclog