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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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People do need to take these geomagnetic storms seriously- if we do get a repeat of the 1800 solar storms we will be without power for months- that also means no internet cell phone sattelites no radio no tv etc- that also means all electric devices whether plugged in or not can be fried and left useless !
This storm is minor and cell phone disruptions have already been reported- but its not a tin foil hat theory that a large solar CME can indeed cause utter disruption and chaos in the world. NOAA and scientists have been saying for years that this scenario is not only possible but more likely then not- and our overreliance on technology puts us in a far worse situation then the past
No need for fear but prepare and educate yourself on these matters -
** afterall that means no internet porn for months- finally got your attention!!!!!!
interesting, very kewl!, of course here in the great white north we get to see more than most,but unfortunalty on the west coast it is cloudy right now and the forecast is for more, ...bummer!!.. anyways,..this CME?.. whats the estimated tonnage on material ejected?,anyone?.... and these "particles".. other than the usual "rays"? we dont really know much about them, what they really are or how they interact with our magnetosphere?..we dont know much about that either??. in one sense the earth is a bit like a big battery, it is ejecting power via this magnetosphere all the time,,Tesla had some kind of grip on how powerfull this is and to some degree it can be detected and manipulated even[which is a very scary thought!!],..so, we have this huge mass of "particles" and other? moving at near lite speeds, hitting the earths mag field ,which is also traveling at something like 17,000 mph,..hmmm...yeah,,, it will react,,, I think what we see, is but a small part of the total effect,,, it would be interesting if we could be measuring the planets total electron load and see what happens when the "strike" occurs??..will it deflect?? absorb??..slight increase in the mag field??.. well,, so many questions as per, so few answers, also as per,, sigh,,, may as well just enjoy the show and let my mind roam on the rest,,,..BTW, northern lights are so kewl! to see,, majestic,a sense of power,.. but they are only a physical reaction ,.. not "god" etc,, sorry,, facts is facts,...
as where I live is under heavy cloud cover- I guess I'll miss this one :-(
I do want to say, though to some that think practically nothing would happen in an EMT scenario- loss of power- -- LOSS OF POWER!!- no gasoline-Pumps run on electricity - no heat for many -furnaces run on electricity - no water pressure most citys pumps work on electricity-
a massive EMP would also shut off all communications AND your car -mix this together and its not pretty
those who have a supply of food & water on hand are not being paranoid- just being smart
fuel can be a problem - many houses have no option to switch to a powerless heat source- and its supposed to get near 0 F here in the next couple days
think about what you would do -----
LOL, 0 degrees F that's tanning weather. It was - 50 here 3 days ago.
WABOFI
NASA originally predicted a solar maximus that would likely produce a Carrington event to begin 2012 and culminate 2013, then under Prez O's reorganization of NASA to improve Moslem self esteem, the period was reversed to a solar minimus with a complete absence of solar flare activity. Sounds like the complete absence of solar flare activity must be beginning.
If you can't figure it out all you have to do is ask.
You pronounce it....................... WA - BOW - FEYE
Lets make sure we can get some Conservatives up there quick so they can rip the astronomy pages out off all the kids school books after they look at the sky. They have to go up put "evolution is just a theory" stickers on all the biology books anyways this weekend.
Hopefully the Pope will talk with God and let us all know whats going on, whatever he says will surely be exactly the opposite of what scientists say (cause they only became scientists to hate Jesus anyways)
Fox news at 5pm: "Radiation hitting earth, more proof Obama is a bad President". "Elect a Republican this year and keep your children safe from the socialist science and radiation conspiracy being run by the Muslim Brotherhood"
I can understand why you are average and can never rise any higher. Pity!
Maybe after the Mayans foresaw the state of the world in 2012 with reality show people & " celebrities " as the new " stars " of the world & to who a vast majority of people in this feeble world sadly now obviously bow down to as their new " gods ", their prognostication of the end of the World on 12/21/2012 is not so much of a prophecy, but perhaps is actually wishful thinking on their part ! lol
If cellular is disrrupted by these CMEs then the EM frequencies used for all digital communication is at risk. That means no food in the stores in days because the distribution systems go down. Shoot a squirrel and enjoy-it tastes like chicken