Northern Lights March 2012

Viktor

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From Space Weather:


A sunspot almost four times as wide as Earth itself is rotating onto the solar disk. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded its entrance on March 2nd and 3rd.
The sunspot has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M-class solar flares. Indeed, it has already unleashed an M3-class eruption on March 2nd that created mild waves of ionization in the atmosphere over Europe.
Earth-effects could become stronger as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the days ahead.


Time to think of preparing the MH for a night out!​
 
It would be too much to hope for to have a visible aurora at the weekend when there could be a few of us at RH - it would be worth a night walk up Ingleborough... please could everyone keep their fingers, toes, paws etc crossed for us
 
Really do feel the need to go north and see this, you lucky people who already live there please feel for us poor southerners:mad::cry:
 
It could be on for the weekend!



It's looking promising...this sunspot is active...and has released an X flare today....if it keeps going there will be flares and CMEs queing up in sequence as it rotates towards us...


From spaceweather.com -

Solar activity is now high. Big sunspot AR1429, which emerged on March 2nd, is crackling with strong flares. The strongest so far, an X1-class eruption, occured just ths morning, March 5th at 0413 UT. The expanding cloud will probably deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 6th or 7th. When the CME from today's X-flare arrives, a geomagnetic storm might already be in progress. An earlier CME is en route and nearing our planet. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud, which was produced by an M2-class eruption from sunspot AR1429 on March 4th, could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 6th at 04:30 UT.
 
Thanks Viktor, please can you keep us posted in layman's terms on this thread (I don't understand all this science stuff :mad:).
 
Lol..this sunspot is exploding material into space every so many hours....but it isn't (yet) pointing directly at the earth...however it's like someone turning a water hose towards you...you start to notice your feet getting wet before you get soaked.
 
Viktor said:
Lol..this sunspot is exploding material into space every so many hours....but it isn't (yet) pointing directly at the earth...however it's like someone turning a water hose towards you...you start to notice your feet getting wet before you get soaked.
Click to expand...

Now I understand that ok. Thanks. :D Let us know when you start getting wet feet.

It's like trying to understand the electricity stuff - when it's explained in terms of hose pipes, diameter of hose pipes, and water pressure I understand, but I just can't get my head round amps, volts, watts and ohms!

When I was climbing alot, I never understood fall factors etc so I just used to work on the principle of plenty of gear and don't fall!
 
The current Aurora footprint is showing that it may be visible from N Scotland and extreme Northern parts of Ireland this evening, although the Aurora Watch is currently showing no significant activity...doesn't mean though that AW won't go to an Amber condition later this evening.

http://helios.swpc.noaa.gov/ovation/Europe.html
 
Sounds great. I must get the scope out tomorrow and take a few images. Last time I did, it looked like this:

sun_6th_nov_2011_02.jpg


PLEASE REMEMBER... do not look at the sun without the correct filters
 
It's hard to imagine this scale and heat...those small dots to the bottom left and middle left of your picture are Earth sized!
 
From Spaceweather.com

"Big sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another major flare. This one is the strongest yet, an X5-class eruption on March 7th at 00:28 UT.

This eruption hurled a bright CME into space. First-look data from STEREO-B are not sufficient to determine if the cloud is heading for Earth. Our best guess is "probably, yes, but not directly toward Earth." A glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere is possible on March 8th or 9th."


More material on the way....now another few big flares when it gets to point towards us and we'll in for a very good chance of Auroras across the whole of the UK into the night hours of the weekend.
 
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Your guess is as good as mine moonshadow lol.... the CME that hit today was weak compared to what is coming and hopefully yet to come as this sunspot isn't yet pointing directly at us....when it is I just hope it lets rip with a couple of really big X flares....this mornings storm sent the Aurora Watch yellow for about 5 hours but it triggered a display visible in moonlight at Lake Superior....which is pretty good as light pollution tends to spoil the effect.

As the summer approaches of course with more daylight the visible window lessens....but this is looking very hopeful for a good display in days to come.
 
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Here's the image I took yesterday. A huge sunspot group towards top left.

Sun_6_Mar_2012_01.jpg
 
Update from Space weather




Following recent observations of solar activity there is an
increased risk of a geomagnetic storm on 8-MAR-2012 and
9-MAR-2012.

An energetic X-class solar flare erupted on the Sun this morning.
This was associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME) that is
expected to arrive at Earth on 8-MAR-2012 sometime from mid-
morning GMT.

There is an increased chance of viewing the aurora during local
night time after the arrival of the CME, assuming dark and
cloud-free skies. The visibility of the aurora however will also
depend on the solar wind conditions at the time. In the UK,
the best chance of seeing any aurora are at higher latitudes
tomorrow evening.

More information on these recent events can be found at:

Space Weather Alert 7-Mar-2012
 
Our observasion plane has been despatched to do observations of it, so I suggest you keep your eye's open for the next few days.
I will get some images from them over next few days if it was visable to them. I will post them hopefully.
 
If the weather holds it is looking good for Auroras tonight...even the media is now talking about it, (wonder if they are watching this thread for info lol)!
 
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