Solar eruptions, check for aurora borealis tonight

A large coronal mass ejection occured on Sunday. The first wave of mass hit the earth today at 13:30 E.D.T.

Predictions are not accurate, however if you live in the north half of the USA, you might see Aurora Borealis tonight. It could be spectacular, viewable far south as Tenessee... or it could be 'a dud', not even visible in Wisconsin.

I saw it once, in 1974 or so in northern Illinois - it was an extremely rarely strong display that night. Wiped out radio for days.

(Or Aurora Australis if we have visitors in the south.)

www.SpaceWeather.com for more information.

I'm going to put a new battery in my geiger counter.

Edited by Racer184, 03 August 2010 - 05:02 PM.

It was too cloudy/hazy here to make out anything here last night; however, this morning a couple of boat cruisers reported on the morning shortwave net seeing the light show farther up the Eastern seaboard, specifically Maine and Virginia. (Propagation conditions were abysmal, a common side effect of these coronal ion bombs.)

I was fortunate to witness the aurora while stationed in Scotland, and it is an awe inspiring sight. To the uninitiated: When future aurora predictions occur (including tonight, these events often last a few days at a time) I would encourage an occasional glance at the clear Northern sky; you'll know it when you see it.

Reports are that the second CME (coronal mass ejection) will hit earth* today or tomorrow. 35% chance of major geomagnetic storms.

What this means is tonight and/or tomorrow, aurora might be visible farther south than you would expect. Look north after dark.

Spaceweather.com



*well... an incredibly tiny fraction of it might hit earth. We are 150 billion meters away from the sun, and it is not coming directly at us either.

Edited by Racer184, 04 August 2010 - 07:54 AM.