Space Weather

[thelufias]

They forecast Space Weather like they forecast Hurricanes.  "Could Be" is always used in the description of the size of the storm LOL

[sanbie]

Where's Noah and his ark...I want to hitch a ride!  lol

[thelufias]

'EXTREMELY RARE' FARSIDE CME: Something big just happened on the farside of the sun. During the early hours of March 13th, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a farside halo CME leaving the sun faster than 3000 km/s:



Because of its extreme speed, this CME is classified as "extremely rare," a fast-mover that occurs only once every decade or so. A NASA model of the event shows the CME heading almost directly away from Earth. Good thing!

Although the CME was not Earth-directed, it has nevertheless touched our planet. See all the snowy dots and streaks in the coronagraph movie above? Those are energetic particles accelerated by shock waves in the CME. They create short-lived luminous speckles when they hit SOHO's digital camera.

NOAA's GOES-16 satellite has detected the particles reaching Earth--all from the CME's backside. Imagine what a frontside blast would have been like. Earth's magnetic field is funneling the particles toward the poles where a type of radio blackout is underway--a polar cap absorption (PCA) event:



Note the broad red areas. Airplanes flying over these regions may find that their shortwave radios won't work due to the ionizing effect of infalling protons. This PCA could persist for a day or more. You can monitor its progress here.

[thelufias]

SOLAR TORNADO: For much of the past week, astronomers have been watching a colossal "solar tornado" dance near the sun's North Pole. "This thing was twisting and growing for 3 days," says Apollo Lasky of Naperville, Illinois, who made the following movie using images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:



"I've never seen anything like it in all my years of watching the sun," he says. "It was twisting and growing nonstop for 3 days."

Unlike tornadoes on Earth, which are shaped by wind, tornadoes on the sun are controlled by magnetism. Solar magnetic fields twist in a furious spiral, dragging clouds of plasma around with them. They are seen from time to time.

This twister finally overtorqued itself. On March 18th it spun out and hurled a cloud of magnetized gas into space. The unraveling debris is flying up from the sun's North Pole and will not hit Earth.

[thelufias]

 Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout.

Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon.

WHERE AND WHEN CAN YOU SEE THEM?

The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday, March 28. You’ll want to look to the western horizon right after sunset, said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke.

The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. But don't be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset.

The five-planet spread can be seen from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view of the west.

“That’s the beauty of these planetary alignments. It doesn’t take much,” Cooke said.


DO I NEED BINOCULARS?

Maybe. Jupiter, Venus and Mars will all be pretty easy to see since they shine brightly, Cooke said. Venus will be one of the brightest things in the sky, and Mars will be hanging out near the moon with a reddish glow. Mercury and Uranus could be trickier to spot, since they will be dimmer. You’ll probably need to grab a pair of binoculars.

If you’re a “planet collector,” it’s a rare chance to spot Uranus, which usually isn't visible, Cooke said. Look out for its green glow just above Venus.

DOES THIS HAPPEN OFTEN?

Different numbers and groups of planets line up in the sky from time to time. There was a five-planet lineup last summer and there's another one in June, with a slightly different makeup.

This kind of alignment happens when the planets’ orbits line them up on one side of the sun from Earth’s perspective, Cooke said.

[parkdalegardener]

I was looking for this last night when I was out on my balcony. I'm West facing. Supposed to be clear tomorrow so we'll see.

[thelufias]

We had clouds so I had no luck...like you...we'll see what the rest of the week brings.  I'm hoping it will be seen clearly tomorrow night, which is my Brothers Birthday...I'll tell him I set it up just for him...   

[RodS]

We don't have a particularly good view of the western horizon here - and it's been cruddy / cloudy here mostly for the last week, so we'll see what happens.
It's been a while since I've hung out with you guys. I hope to change that soon. We're looking for a new place to live, and a million other things going on here. Stay tuned... 😉
Rod

[thelufias]

Good to hear from you my friend.  I know you have had a lot going on....and you know your always welcomed to our humble home.....

So far our forecast looks favorable...but that is the "NOW" forecast...what happens later in the day is another story...

PS  Hi Girls....wooohooo

[thelufias]

EARTH-DIRECTED EXPLOSION ON THE SUN: Earth is definitely in the strike zone. Yesterday (April 21st), a large magnetic filament snaking across the sun's southern hemisphere exploded, hurling a cloud of debris in our direction. This movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows what happened:



Soon after the eruption, the US Air Force reported strong Type II and Type IV solar radio bursts. These are natural shortwave emissions produced by shock waves preceding the CME as it passes through the sun's atmosphere. Drift rates in the Type II burst suggested a CME velocity of about 580 km/s (1.3 million mph).



A preliminary NASA model of the CME shows it reaching Earth around 00:00 UT on April 24th. A refined forecast will become available this weekend when NOAA forecasters finish analyzing the CME. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.