Solar storms don’t always travel in a straight line. But once they start heading in our direction, they can accelerate rapidly, gathering steam for a harder hit on Earth’s magnetic field.
So say researchers who have been using data from NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft to unravel the 3D structure of solar storms. Their findings are presented in today’s issue of … Read the rest of this article
The solar eruption of August 7th might affect Earth after all. Newly-arriving data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) show a CME heading our way with a significant Earth-directed component. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives on August 10th. A movie of the CME is featured on today’s edition of http://spaceweather.com.
[phpbay]solar … Read the rest of this article
During the early hours of August 1st, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a complex global disturbance on the Earth-facing side of the sun.
Most of the sun’s northern hemisphere was involved in the event, which included a long-duration C3-class solar flare, a “solar tsunami, ” and a massive filament eruption.
As a result of these blasts, a coronal mass … Read the rest of this article
It’s every vacationer’s dream: You stretch out on a white sandy beach for a luxurious nap under the South Pacific sun. The caw of distant gulls wafts across the warm sea breeze while palm fronds rustle gently overhead. You take it all in through half-closed eyes.
Could Paradise get any better? This weekend it will.
On Sunday, July 11th, the … Read the rest of this article
This year’s main celebration will be on March 20, 2010, @1pm – 2pm ET.
NASA EDGE, an award-winning talk show known for offbeat, funny and informative behind-the-scene stories about the space agency, will celebrate Sun-Earth Day 2010, with a live webcast about our sun and its effects on Earth. The program will air at 1 p.m. … Read the rest of this article
The sudden emergence of big sunspot 1045 over the weekend has caused a sharp upsurge in solar activity.
The active region has produced three M-class and almost a dozen C-class solar flares since it appeared on Saturday (Feb. 6th).
The strongest blast, an M6-class eruption on Feb. 7th, may have hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. High-latitude sky watchers … Read the rest of this article
The Moon is about to pass directly in front of the sun, producing an annular solar eclipse on Jan. 15th between 05:00 and 09:00 GMT.
The zone of visibility stretches from Africa across the Indian Ocean to eastern Asia.
Onlookers in those places should be alert for crescent-shaped shadows on the ground and “ring of fire” suns in the sky.… Read the rest of this article
Two sunspots, which appeared on the autumnal equinox to break several months of extreme solar quiet [see New Sunspots (Finally!)], have faded away, leaving the sun blank once again. The deepest solar minimum in nearly a century appears poised to continue. NASA spacecraft are now reporting a surge in cosmic rays around Earth caused, somewhat ironically, by this low … Read the rest of this article
In a year when the sun has been utterly blank 80% of the time, the sudden emergence of two large sunspots in a single day is a noteworthy event. Today is such a day. NASA satellites and amateur astronomers are monitoring a pair of growing sunspots, both apparently members of long-overdue Solar Cycle 24. The emergence of these active regions … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
|
The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
|
|
Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
|
