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A Powerful Solar Storm Is Bringing Hazards and Rare Auroras Our Way (fastcompany.com)
tedlistens shares a report from Fast Company: The Space Weather Prediction Center has upgraded a geomagnetic storm watch for September 6 and 7 to a level only occasionally seen, but scientists say it's nothing to be too alarmed about. They do recommend looking for an unusual display of the aurora -- the northern lights caused by a disturbance of the magnetosphere -- in areas of the U.S. not used to seeing them: "really in the upper tier of the United States," says Robert Rutledge, lead of operations at the center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The storm could pose an "elevated radiation risk to passengers and crew in high-flying aircraft at far north or south latitudes," a NOAA warning says, and intermittently impact high frequency RF communications, which may require some transpolar flight routes to divert to lower geomagnetic latitudes (a shift that would cost the airlines more). There's a slim chance of isolated interfere with high-precision GPS readings, but those issues usually only tend to arise with stronger storms.
The so-called G3 level storm is the result of what's called a coronal mass ejection, where magnetic interactions on the sun launch part of its outer atmosphere of superheated plasma into space. When that burst of radiation gets near earth -- barreling toward us at a million miles per hour, it takes about two days to make the journey -- its magnetic field interacts with Earth's, Rutledge says. Northern U.S. and Canadian residents hoping to catch a glimpse of the aurora will get their best shot on Wednesday night and early Thursday, and the Space Weather Prediction Center posts 30-minute forecasts of the colorful sky phenomenon's intensity.
The so-called G3 level storm is the result of what's called a coronal mass ejection, where magnetic interactions on the sun launch part of its outer atmosphere of superheated plasma into space. When that burst of radiation gets near earth -- barreling toward us at a million miles per hour, it takes about two days to make the journey -- its magnetic field interacts with Earth's, Rutledge says. Northern U.S. and Canadian residents hoping to catch a glimpse of the aurora will get their best shot on Wednesday night and early Thursday, and the Space Weather Prediction Center posts 30-minute forecasts of the colorful sky phenomenon's intensity.
. . . two major hurricanes, Lil' Kim threatening to deliver "gift packages", domestic unrest to the point of rioting in some places, and now this.
I halfway expect Godzilla to emerge from Tokyo Bay, at this rate (grin)
The predictions are 30 minutes forecasts, so its likely the storm hasn't hit the L1 point used for generating the 30 minute predictions yet. The animation is the last couple of days, not a projection.
OK, so I found the experimental 3 day forecast:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/produ...
It looks like I might have actually seen something... if my region wasn't also predicted to be blanketed with rain clouds and the occasional thunderstorm through to the weekend. :(
all stretched out now?
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/ea...
#DeleteFacebook
There have been two X class solar flares today, and the second was X9, which is the biggest of this solar cycle. So there may be more geomagnetic storms coming over the next few days.