A GLOBAL MAGNETIC ANOMALY: On June 23rd, Earth’s quiet magnetic field was unexpectedly disturbed by a wave of magnetism that rippled around much of the globe. There was no solar storm or geomagnetic storm to cause the disturbance. So what was it?
Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed an extreme planet where they suspect it rains iron. The ultra-hot giant exoplanet has a day side where temperatures climb above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporise metals. Strong winds carry iron vapour to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets. “One…
From NASA Sept. 3, 2019 RELEASE 19-071 NASA Selects Proposals to Advance Understanding of Space Weather NASA has selected three proposals for concept studies of missions that could help us better understand the dynamic space weather system driven by the Sun that manifests near Earth. The proposals examine what drives different parts of that system…
Something this big today would surely fry electrical grids, GPS, and communications. It may be bigger than the Carrington Solar event of 1859. Scientists have found evidence of a huge blast of radiation from the Sun that hit Earth more than 2,000 years ago. The result has important implications for the present, because solar storms…
Audio recording captures a “thunderclap” from recent display in Finland Dr. Tony Philips writes: For centuries, people inside the Arctic Circle have reported hearing strange hissing and popping sounds under the Northern Lights. Evidence is mounting that at least some those auroral sounds are real. A researcher in southern Finland recorded some during a recent…
WHO’S AFRAID OF KILLER ELECTRONS? “Killer electrons” from the Van Allen Belts are raining down on Earth’s atmosphere. Last Saturday, a Delta II rocket blasted off at dawn from Vandenberg AFB in California. Soon thereafter NASA reported the successful deployment of the ICESat-2 satellite, designed to make 3D laser images of Earth’s surface. Here’s what…
While the sun is completely blank today, and has been for 8 days, some new things are happening in space in the electromagnetic relationship between the sun and the Earth – cracks are forming in Earth’s magnetic field that are allowing solar wind particles into Earth’s upper atmosphere. The sunspot number keeps decreasing, as would…
I found this very interesting, so I’m passing it along to WUWT readers. The shower of electrons bouncing across Earth’s magnetosphere – commonly known as the Northern Lights – has been directly observed for the first time by an international team of scientists. While the cause of these colorful auroras has long been hypothesized, researchers…
Solar wind impacts on giant ‘space hurricanes’ may affect satellite safety From EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY Could the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Costa Rica set off a hurricane in California? The question has been scrutinized by chaos theorists, stock-market analysts and weather forecasters for decades. For most people, this hypothetical scenario may be difficult…
Mass strandings of whales have often been documented, but their causes remain unclear. Researchers from Europe have just published a study in the International Journal of Astrobiology suggesting that some strandings are triggered by strong geomagnetic storms such as the one headed for Earth now. On Sept. 4th, active sunspot AR2673 hurled a CME toward Earth. Estimated…
From the “worse than we thought” department and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center comes this: Space weather events linked to human activity Our Cold War history is now offering scientists a chance to better understand the complex space system that surrounds us. Space weather — which can include changes in Earth’s magnetic environment — are…
From the “a single Carrington event can ruin your whole day, er, life” department: WASHINGTON — The Senate unanimously passed a bill May 2 intended to support space weather research and planning to protect critical infrastructure from solar storms. The Senate passed, via unanimous consent, the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act. The bill cleared…
Extreme space weather has a global footprint and the potential to damage critical infrastructure on the ground and in space. A new report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) calls for bridging knowledge gaps and for better coordination at EU level to reduce the potential impact of space weather events. The sun shapes…
From the University of Reading: Britain may lose the magic of the Northern Lights by the middle of the century due to major shifts in solar activity, scientists have discovered. Space scientists at the University of Reading conclude that plummeting solar activity will shrink the overall size of the sun’s ‘atmosphere’ by a third and weaken…
Dr. Leif Svalgaard writes advising me of this new paper published Jan. 17. After reading it, I’ll have to say that it isn’t a matter of “if” – it’s a matter of when we’ll get another CME like the Carrington Event in 1859 – which had it occurred today, would plunge our society into darkness…
From Imperial College, London: Large magnetic storms from the Sun, which affect technologies such as GPS and utility grids, could soon be predicted more than 24 hours in advance. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are eruptions of gas and magnetised material from the Sun that have the potential to wreak havoc on satellites and Earth-bound technologies,…
Auroras are the most visible manifestation of the sun’s effect on Earth, but many aspects of these spectacular displays are still poorly understood. Thanks to the joint European Space Agency and NASA’s Cluster mission combined with data from a past NASA mission called the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, or IMAGE, a particular type of…
From the American Physical Society News from the 2014 APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Each second, the sun hurls millions of tons of hot, charged plasma gas into space. This volatile “solar wind” buffets the magnetosphere, the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, and can whip up geomagnetic storms that disrupt cell phone service,…
When the supersonic solar wind hits the Earth’s magnetic field, a powerful electrical connection occurs with Earth’s field, generating millions of amperes of current that drive the dazzling auroras. These so-called Birkeland currents connect the ionosphere to the magnetosphere and channel solar wind energy to Earth’s uppermost atmosphere. Solar storms release torrential blasts of solar…
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has published its latest graphs for the month of July, and while sunspot and radio flux numbers showed little change and increased respectively, the Geomagnetic Ap index is back near the bottom again. Further, as we noted back in October of 2013, and as NASA suggested in May 2013,…
From PhysicsWorld blog: The cover feature of the August issue of Physics World, which is now out in print and digital formats, looks at the Sun – and in particular, at the consequences here on Earth of a “solar super-storm”. As I point out in the video [below], these violent events can disturb the Earth’s…
From the Institute of Physics: High-speed solar winds increase lightning strikes on Earth Scientists have discovered new evidence to suggest that lightning on Earth is triggered not only by cosmic rays from space, but also by energetic particles from the Sun.
The solar data from the NOAA Space Weather prediction center has been posted, and like the global temperature, there isn’t much change. Sunspot numbers are down slightly, but still up from most of 2012/2013. The double peak looks more prominent. Solar radio flux shows a similar double peak pattern.
From NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center and spaceweather.com: Strong Solar Flare Radio Blackout Newly numbered Region 1990 (the return of old Region 1967), just now rotating into view, produced an R3 (Strong) Solar Flare Radio Blackout at 0049 UTC on February 25 (7:49 pm Eastern on February 24). It was an X4.9-class solar flare. This…
From NASA: Spaceweather: As expected, a CME hit Earth’s magnetic field on Jan. 9th (around 20:00 UTC or 3 p.m. EST). Although the initial impact was weaker than expected, geomagnetic storms could still develop as Earth passes through the CME’s wake. NOAA forecasters are sticking by their prediction of a G3-class event on Jan. 9-10,…
From the WUWT Solar Reference page, an X 1.2 event has occurred: From NASA Spaceweather: Giant sunspot AR1944 erupted on Jan 7th at approximately 1832 UT, producing a powerful X1-class solar flare. First-look coronagraph images from the STEREO-Ahead spacecraft appear to show a coronal mass ejection (CME) emerging from the blast site. If so, the…
May produce a dangerous X-class flare that could directly impact Earth Steve Davidson writes: Right now, today, one of the largest sunspot groups of Cycle 24 – AR1890 – is pointing nearly strait at Earth. AR1890 has already produced a large X-class Level 3 solar flare Monday. from Spaceweather.com: X3-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have…
Researchers have considered the possibility that the sun plays a role in global warming. From NASA GSFC: Solar Variability and Terrestrial Climate In the galactic scheme of things, the Sun is a remarkably constant star. While some stars exhibit dramatic pulsations, wildly yo-yoing in size and brightness, and sometimes even exploding, the luminosity of our…
A paper recently published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics finds that “a solar proton event, if it took place in the near future with an intensity similar to that ascribed to the Carrington Event of 1859”. Based on the results of the study it would be expected to have a major impact on atmospheric composition…
Rice researcher part of team that used Doppler shifts to ID phenomenon; may help predict space weather HOUSTON – (July 2, 2012) – Doppler measurements that help track storms on Earth may also be useful for understanding storms on the sun. A Rice University astrophysicist is part of an international team that combined Doppler techniques…
Guest post by David Archibald A number of solar parameters are weak, and none is weaker than the Ap Index: Figure 1: Ap Index 1932 to 2026 Figure 1 shows the Ap Index from 1932 with a projection to the end of Solar Cycle 24 in 2026. The Ap Index has not risen much above…
From EOS, Vol. 93, No. 25, 19 June 2012 White House and Agencies Focus on Space Weather Concerns “Space weather is a serious matter that can affect human economies around the world,” Tamara Dickinson, a senior policy analyst with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), told attendees at the 2012 Space…
Compiled by Joe D’aleo WeatherBell via NASA MSFC The current prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 60 in the Spring of 2013. We are currently over three years into Cycle 24. The current predicted size makes this the smallest sunspot cycle in about 100 years. The prediction method…
From National Geographic: Clouds of charged particles stretch a quarter the way to the moon, experts say. Clouds of “cold plasma” reach from the top of Earth’s atmosphere to at least a quarter the distance to the moon, according to new data from a cluster of European satellites. Earth generates cold plasma—slow-moving charged particles—at the…
As I mentioned on my post yesterday, low latitude aurora could be possible thanks to the CME that impacted Earth yesterday. Here’s a wonderful time lapse video from Michigan last night showing the Aurora Borealis in stunning color and clarity.
From the Rice University Spaceweather listserv Our space weather alert system is in level yellow, and the CME input of energy to the Earth’s magnetosphere still continues. So, if you live in northern latitudes, go out and look for auroras tonight!