A magnetic filament on the sun erupted hurling inky-black fragments of itself into space. CME expected this week.

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

GLANCING-BLOW CME EXPECTED THIS WEEK:

 

A magnetic filament on the sun erupted during the late hours of Nov. 15th, hurling inky-black fragments of itself into space. Shortly thereafter, a CME was observed racing away from the sun:

Storm track models from NOAA suggest that the CME will deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 18th or 19th. There is a 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the CME arrives.

Actually, the arrival of the CME could be the second strike. A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) is also expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 18th. CIRs are transition zones between fast- and slow-moving solar wind streams. Solar wind plasma piles up in these regions, producing density gradients and shock waves that do a good job of sparking auroras.

The double impact, CIR followed by CME, could produce a G1 or G2-class geomagnetic storm and bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Observers in northern-tier US states from Maine to Washington should be alert for colorful lights in the midnight sky

A gigantic hole in the sun's atmosphere has opened up and a broad stream of solar wind is flowing out of it.

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

ENORMOUS CORONAL HOLE:

 

A gigantic hole in the sun's atmosphere has opened up and a broad stream of solar wind is flowing out of it. This is called a "coronal hole." It is the deep blue-colored region in this extreme UV image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Coronal holes are places in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field unfurls and allows solar wind to escape. In the image above, the sun's magnetic field is traced by white curving lines. Outside the coronal hole, those magnetic fields curve back on themselves, trapping solar wind inside their loops. Inside the coronal hole, no such trapping occurs. Solar wind plasma is free to fly away as indicated by the white arrows.

For much of the next week, Earth's environment in space will be dominated by winds flowing from this broad hole. This should activate some beautiful Arctic auroras. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% of polar geomagnetic storms today as Earth moves deeper into the solar wind stream.

An X-class solar flare on April 25th irradiated Earth's upper atmosphere with extreme ultraviolet radiation, causing a widespread blackout of shortwave radio transmissions.

 Space Weather. com

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

RADIO BLACKOUT:

An X-class solar flare on April 25th irradiated Earth's upper atmosphere with extreme ultraviolet radiation. Waves of ionization rippled around the dayside of the planet, causing a widespread blackout of shortwave radio transmissions. Radio astronomer Dick Flagg recorded the event at his observatory at the Windward Community College on Oahu:

"This is a dynamic spectrum," explains Flagg. "The vertical axis is frequency (MHz) and the horizontal axis is time (UTC)." All of the horizontal lines corresponding to terrestrial radio stations vanished in the aftermath of the flare.

The active region responsible for the flare rotated off the solar disk yesterday, so even if it flares again, another radio blackout is unlikely this weekend. NOAA forecasters estimate the odds of an X-flare on April 26th to be a scant 1%.

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Space .com

Sun Unleashes Major Solar Flare (Video)

By Tariq Malik, Managing Editor   |   April 25, 2014 06:47am ET

An X1.3-class solar flare (far right) erupts from the surface of the sun on April 24, 2014 EDT (April 25 GMT).
Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

View full size image

X-class flares top the scale with the most energy and potential to disrupt communications on Earth. See how solar flares compare to each other in this Space.com inforgraphic.
Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

View full size image

The sun erupted with a massive solar flare late Thursday (April 24), triggering a temporary communications blackout on some parts of Earth.

The powerful flare peaked at 8:27 p.m. EDT Thursday (0027 April 25 GMT), and ranked as an X1.3-class solar storm, one of the strongest types of flares the sun can experience, according to a report from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center. NASA's sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory captured video of the intense solar flare in several difference wavelengths.
The solar flare erupted from an active sunspot region known as Region 2035 located on the far western side (or limb) of the sun as seen from Earth. Because of its position, the flare sparked a high-frequency radio blackout for about an hour on the daytime side of Earth, most likely over the Pacific Ocean and Eastern Pacific Rim, according to the SWPC update. [Photos: The Biggest Solar Flares of 2014]

Read More and Watch Video Here

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Rare Ripple in Earth's Magnetic Field Occurred During Last X1 Solar Flare!

DAHBOO77

Published on Mar 31, 2014

More info at links:

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2014...

http://spaceweather.com/

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

IMPULSIVE SOLAR FLARE SCRAMBLES RADIO SIGNALS:

On Saturday, March 29th, the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2017 erupted, producing a brief but intense X1-class solar flare. A flash of extreme UV radiation sent waves of ionization rippling through Earth's upper atmosphere and disturbed the normal propagation of terrestrial radio transmissions. Radio engineer Stan Nelson of Roswell, NM, was monitoring WWV at 20 MHz when the signal wobbled then disappeared entirely for several minutes:

"The Doppler shift of the WWV signal (the 'wobble' just before the blackout) was nearly 12 Hz, the most I have ever seen," says Nelson.

The flare not only blacked out radio signals, but also produced some radio signals of its own. The explosion above sunspot AR2017 sent shock waves racing through the sun's atmosphere at speeds as high as 4800 km/s (11 million mph). Radio emissions stimulated by those shocks crossed the 93 million mile divide to Earth, causing shortwave radio receivers to roar with static. Here is a plot of the outburst detected by Nelson using a 20.1 MHz RadioJove receiver. Elsewhere, strong bursts were recorded at frequencies as high as 2800 MHz. It was a very broad band event.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a beautiful movie of the flare:

The flash you just saw was extreme UV radiation, the type of radiation that ionizes the upper layers of our atmosphere. In this case, the ionizing action of the flare led to a rare magnetic crochet, measuring 17 nT at the magnetometer in Boulder, Colorado.

A magnetic crochet is a ripple in Earth's magnetic field caused by electrical currents flowing in air 60 km to 100 km above our heads. Unlike geomagnetic disturbances that arrive with CMEs days after a flare, a magnetic crochet occurs while the flare is in progress. They tend to occur during fast impulsive flares like this one.

The magnetic field of sunspot AR2017 is decaying now, but it still poses a threat for eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of M-class flares and a 20% chance of X-class flares on March 31st.

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• X-flare of Saturday, March 29

NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class flares and a 15% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours.

Earth Watch Report  -  Solar Activity

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

GROWING CHANCE OF FLARES:

Sunspot AR2002 poses a growing threat for solar flares. Since the week began, the active region has more than tripled in size. It now has more than a dozen dark cores and sprawls across 100,000 km of solar terrain. Karzaman Ahmad sends this picture from the Langkawi National Observatory in Malaysia:

"AR2002 is so large," says Ahmad, "that I was able to photograph it using an ordinary 11-inch Celestron telescope capped with a Thousand Oaks Glass Filter." The exceptionally crisp image shows thousands of boiling granules surrounding the sunspot's dark cores. Each granule is about the size of Texas.

A 48-hour movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sunspot's development:

The rapid growth of AR2002 has destabilized its magnetic field, which makes it more likely to erupt. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class flares and a 15% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours.

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X4.9-class solar flare eruption from sunspot AR1967 on the Earthside of the sun

Sun Unleashes Monster Solar Flare, Biggest of 2014

by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer   |   February 25, 2014 11:50am ET

The sun fired off a major solar flare late Monday (Feb. 24), making it the most powerful sun eruption of the year so far and one of the strongest in recent years.
The massive X4.9-class solar flare erupted from an active sunspot, called AR1990,  at 7:49 p.m. EST (0049 Feb. 25 GMT). NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured high-definition video of the monster solar flare. The spaceecraft recording amazing views the solar flare erupting with a giant burst of plasma, called a coronal mass ejection, or CME.

Earth isn't in danger from the latest eruption of space weather activity, according to officials with Spaceweather.com, which tracks space weather and stargazing events. Sunspot AR1990 (previously named AR1967) is located on the southeastern limb of the sun, pointed away from Earth. This is the third time this sunspot has rotated onto the Earth-facing side of the sun. [Photos: The Biggest Solar Flares of 2014]

A giant solar flare, an X4.9-class sun storm, erupts from the sun at 00:49 GMT on Tuesday, Feb. 25 (7:49 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 EST). This image of the flare was captured by NASA's sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Credit: NASA/SDO

View full size image

"Long-lived sunspot AR1967 returned to the Earthside of the sun on Feb. 25th and promptly erupted, producing an X4.9-class solar flare," astronomer Tony Phillips wrote in a Spaceweather.com alert. "This is the strongest flare of the year so far and one of the strongest of the current solar cycle."

Read More Here

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

X-FLARE!

Long-lived sunspot AR1967 returned to the Earthside of the sun on Feb. 25th and promptly erupted, producing an X4.9-class solar flare.  This is the strongest flare of the year so far and one of the strongest of the current solar cycle. A movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the explosion hurling a loop of hot plasma away from the blast site:

Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory tracked this material as it raced away from the sun, eventually forming a bright CME, pictured below.. Radio emissions from shock waves at the leading edge of the CME suggest an expansion velocity near 2000 km/s or 4.4 million mph. If such a fast-moving cloud did strike Earth, the resulting geomagnetic storms could be severe. However, because its trajectory is so far off the sun-Earth line, the CME will deliver a no more than a glancing blow. NOAA forecasters expect a weak impact late in the day on Feb. 26th.

The source of the eruption is long-lived sunspot AR1967, now beginning its third trip across the Earthside of the sun. This region was an active producer of flares during its previous transits, and it looks like the third time will be no different. By tradition, sunspots are renumbered each time they return, so AR1967 has been given a new name, AR1990. After today, that is what we will call it

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5.0 Earthquake Hits Cuba As Geomagnetic Storm Hits Earth

DAHBOO77


   

Published on Jan 9, 2014

These are the latest quake updates for the US!

http://spaceweather.com/
http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/

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Spaceweather.com
by Dr. Tony Phillips.
GROWING QUIET?
Giant sunspot AR1944 has not unleashed a significant flare in more than 48 hours. The growing quiet could be the calm between storms. AR1944 has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class flares.  

CME IMPACT:

As predicted, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Jan. 9th (20:00 UT). The impact was weaker than expected, however, and it failed to produce widespread geomagnetic storms. Nevertheless, some beautiful auroras appeared around the Arctic Circle. Harald Albrigtsen sends this picture from Tromsø, Norway:

It was dark in Norway when the CME arrived, so observers there witnessed a nice display. By the time night fell over North America, however, the lights had faded. US observers saw nothing remarkable.

More auroras are possible on Jan. 10th as Earth passes through the magnetic wake of the CME. NOAA forecasters estimate a 85% chance of polar geomagnetic storms before the day is over.

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Massive Solar storm strikes Earth following monster flare

Newsnation6


 

Published on Jan 10, 2014

A large coronal mass ejection has reached Earth -- days after the Sun sent a massive burst of solar wind and electromagnetic radiation towards our planet. While causing no major geomagnetic storm, it has produced spectacular auroras in northern Europe.

The coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived near Earth at 2:32pm EST (7:32pm GMT) on Thursday, with its effects expected to continue throughout Friday, according to US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a warning of a geomagnetic storm with "minor disruptions to communications and GPS."
While the world's economies braced for possible blackouts in high-frequency airline and military communications, disruptions to GPS signals and power grids, enthusiasts in the northern hemisphere rushed outdoors in the hope of viewing the stunning aurora borealis as far south as Colorado.
However, American aurora spotters have been disappointed, as, according to spaceweather.com, the CME's impact was "weaker than expected" and failed to produce widespread storms. Some frustrated Twitter users also blamed cloudy skies for not being able to see the northern lights.
Observers were luckier around the Arctic Circle in Norway, where a dark and clear night at the time of impact, as well as more favorable latitude, put an aurora on display.
NOAA forecasters still estimated an 85 percent chance of polar geomagnetic storms before the end of Friday, and media cheered the sky watchers by saying there remains a chance of some clear aurora sightings Friday night.
The CME that stroke the Earth has been associated with the large X1.2-class solar flare that was unleashed from a giant sunspot AR1944 on January 7. The flare has been described as the most powerful this year so far, with X-class denoting the most severe intensity.

,,,,,

Solar storm strikes Earth following monster flare (VIDEO)

This January 7, 2014 handout image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a false-color composite image from a blast of activity originating from an active sunspot region at the center of the sun's disk (AFP Photo)

Published time: January 10, 2014 18:14  

 

A large coronal mass ejection has reached Earth – days after the Sun sent a massive burst of solar wind and electromagnetic radiation towards our planet. While causing no major geomagnetic storm, it has produced spectacular auroras in northern Europe.
The coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived near Earth at 2:32pm EST (7:32pm GMT) on Thursday, with its effects expected to continue throughout Friday, according to US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a warning of a geomagnetic storm with “minor disruptions to communications and GPS.”

While the world’s economies braced for possible blackouts in high-frequency airline and military communications, disruptions to GPS signals and power grids, enthusiasts in the northern hemisphere rushed outdoors in the hope of viewing the stunning aurora borealis as far south as Colorado.

However, American aurora spotters have been disappointed, as, according to spaceweather.com, the CME’s impact was “weaker than expected” and failed to produce widespread storms. Some frustrated Twitter users also blamed cloudy skies for not being able to see the northern lights.

Wow RT @EdPiotrowski: Harald Albrigsten captures the #aurora in all its glory tonight in Kvaløya, Norway. pic.twitter.com/BMlfgm2Yap
— Maninder Dhaliwal (@dhaliwalmk) January 10, 2014

Observers were luckier around the Arctic Circle in Norway, where a dark and clear night at the time of impact, as well as more favorable latitude, put an aurora on display.
NOAA forecasters still estimated an 85 percent chance of polar geomagnetic storms before the end of Friday, and media cheered the sky watchers by saying there remains a chance of some clear aurora sightings Friday night.

The CME that stroke the Earth has been associated with the large X1.2-class solar flare that was unleashed from a giant sunspot AR1944 on January 7. The flare has been described as the most powerful this year so far, with X-class denoting the most severe intensity.

Read More and Watch Videos Here
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M 5.1 - 24km NNW of Corralillo, Cuba

 2014-01-09 20:57:43 UTC

 

Event Time

1. 2014-01-09 20:57:43 UTC
2. 2014-01-09 15:57:43 UTC-05:00 at epicenter
3. 2014-01-09 14:57:43 UTC-06:00 system time

Location

23.189°N 80.677°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities

1. 24km (15mi) NNW of Corralillo, Cuba
2. 36km (22mi) NE of Marti, Cuba
3. 51km (32mi) N of Los Arabos, Cuba
4. 56km (35mi) ENE of Cardenas, Cuba
5. 174km (108mi) E of Havana, Cuba

Related Links

• View location in Google Maps

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Tectonic Summary

The January 9, 2014 M5.1 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico occurred along the northern coast of west-central Cuba at shallow crustal depths, ~28km from Corralillo, Cuba and ~172 km east of Havana, Cuba.

The island of Cuba lies within the North American plate and is bounded by the Bahamas Platform and Florida Straits to the north and the North America-Caribbean plate boundary to the south. The plate boundary, a left-lateral transform, defines the southeast coast of the island and causes uplift of the Sierra Maestra. In the vicinity of the January 9 earthquake, a former plate boundary suture and several faults, collectively termed the Nortecubana Fault system, bound the northern coast of Cuba. Additionally, several smaller crustal faults, including the left-lateral Hicacos Fault and Las Villas fault are located in the general vicinity of the January 9 earthquake. The region of the January 9 earthquake is relatively quiet seismically. Only 6 documented events ranging from M3.0-5.6 occurred over the past 75 years within 200 km of the epicenter. The M5.6 event, which occurred in 1939, also took place along the northern coast of Cuba in the vicinity of the Nortecubana Fault system. The January 9 event occurred 686 km ESE of the September 2006 M5.8 Gulf of Mexico earthquake.

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Contributed by USGS National Earthquake Information Center

Instrumental Intensity

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