Solar Flares to Hit Earth in Rare One-Two Punch

[Buster's Uncle]

Solar Flares to Hit Earth in Rare One-Two Punch
LiveScience.com
By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer  15 hours ago



The solar flare on Sept. 10, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.



The sun launched back-to-back solar flares directly at Earth this week, but the resulting geomagnetic storms pose little danger, officials said today (Sept. 11).

A strong X1.6-class solar flare erupted Wednesday at 1:46 p.m. ET from a sunspot more than 10 times the size of Earth, jetting out billions of tons of charged particles. The same sunspot also blasted out a minor solar flare on Monday.

Both eruptions of superheated solar plasma, called coronal mass ejections, came from sunspot AR2158. The sunspot, which is centered in the middle of the sun, aimed the CMEs directly toward Earth. Two solar flares in quick succession are relatively rare, said Tom Berger, director at the Space Weather Prediction Center, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

While the worst effects are predicted to miss Earth, scientists are worried about the combined potential of the two solar storms. Wednesday's powerful CME is speeding through space at 2.5 million mph (4 million km/h), catching up on the slower particle stream from Monday's smaller flare. The first solar storm will hit tonight, and the major solar storm will arrive late Friday morning, Berger said. There is a slight chance that interactions between the incoming particles and Earth's magnetic field could intensify the storm's power.

"The coupling is the holy grail," said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center. "The sun just shot out a magnet, and that's going to interact with the Earth's magnetic field. How they couple determines how intense the geomagnetic storm is, and there's a lot of uncertainties until it hits."

Here is the most likely scenario: Earth will experience minor disruptions, such as fluctuations in power lines, radio signals and satellite transmissions, Berger said. Utilities and other operators have already been warned.

Near the poles, where the particles clash most strongly with Earth's magnetic fields, airlines may divert planes, because of interruptions in communications and an increased risk of radiation exposure.

There is no radiation risk to people on the ground, Berger said. Nor does the geomagnetic storm pose a threat to electronics on the ground, such as computers and phones, he added. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are also safe from the incoming CMEs.

More pleasantly, the solar storm will trigger spectacular auroral displays on Friday night, Murtagh said. In the United States, the northern lights could dance in the sky as far south as Oregon, South Dakota, the Great Lakes region and New England.

The unusual pair of solar flares comes as the sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year cycle, when sunspots and solar storms become more frequent. The powerful Sept. 10 eruption generated a shock wave that reached Earth Wednesday night, interrupting high-frequency radio transmissions and creating static on shortwave radios.

Sunspot AR2158 is a complex tangle of magnetic fields, fueling it with the energy to produce several solar flares. The sunspot was not particularly powerful for the year or the century, however. "By historical standards, this was not very large, but it packed a pretty good punch," Berger said. "This may be its swan song, however, because it's now in the process of breaking up."


http://news.yahoo.com/solar-flares-hit-earth-rare-one-two-punch-224635732.html

[gwillybj]

I noticed a little more lag on the internet than usual, but nothing happened with the electricity that I know of.

[Buster's Uncle]

Double solar storms headed to Earth raise disruption concerns
Reuters
By Irene Klotz  17 hours ago



An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken September 10, 2014, in this image courtesy of NASA. REUTERS/NASA/SDO/Handout



CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) - A rare double burst of magnetically charged solar storms will hit Earth Thursday night and Friday, raising concerns that GPS signals, radio communications and power transmissions could be disrupted, officials said on Thursday.

Individually, the storms, known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, wouldn’t warrant special warnings, but their unusual close timing and direct path toward Earth spurred the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center to issue an alert.

The first CME, which burst from a magnetically disturbed region of the sun on Monday night, should reach Earth Thursday night, center director Thomas Berger told reporters on a conference call.

The same patch of solar real estate produced a second, more powerful storm about 1:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.“We don’t expect any unmanageable impacts to national infrastructure from these solar events at this time, but we are watching these events closely,” Berger said.

The sun currently is in the peak of its 11-year cycle, though the overall level of activity is far lower than a typical solar max.

Storms as powerful as the ones now making their way toward Earth typically occur 100 to 200 times during a solar cycle, Berger said.

“The unique thing about this event is that we’ve had two in close succession and the CMEs could possibly be interacting on their way to Earth, at the Earth’s orbit or beyond. We just don’t know that yet,” he said.

The highly energetic, magnetically charged solar particles could hit Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt some radio communications and degrade GPS signals, NOAA said.

The storms also have the potential to impact electric field power grids in the northern latitudes, which are more susceptible to geomagnetic disturbances.

Power grid operators and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been notified “just in case,” Berger added.

On the plus side, the storms should trigger beautiful auroral displays, visible wherever clear skies prevail along the northern tier of the United States. Aurora are caused by electrically charged solar particles hitting oxygen, nitrogen and other gases high in the atmosphere, creating curtains of light above the planet’s magnetic north and south poles.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)


http://news.yahoo.com/double-solar-storms-headed-earth-raise-disruption-concerns-215331887.html

[Buster's Uncle]

I always get my hopes up a little when these things happen that I'll get to see an aurora this far south.  Buster's Gramma is still put out the Buster's Great-Gramma didn't wake her up to see when there was one in the 40s.

[Buster's Uncle]

Back-to-Back Sun Storms May Supercharge Earth's Northern Lights
SPACE.com
by Joe Rao, Skywatching Columnist  19 hours ago



The northern lights dance over Earth in shimmering green light on Aug. 29, 2014 in this amazing photo by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst on the International Space Station



Powerful solar flares from the sun this week may amplify the northern lights displays over parts of the northern United States through the weekend, space weather scientists say.

The forecast for potentially supercharged auroras comes after powerful solar storms fired off eruptions of solar material, first on Monday (Sept. , then again on Wednesday (Sept. 10). During Wednesday's solar flare, the sun unleashed a major X1.6-class flare directly at Earth. While aurora activity could spike overnight tonight (Sept. 11), the best chance of strong northern lights displays along the northern U.S. states will be Friday night.

"The most intense storming is expected tomorrow, Friday night into Saturday morning," William Murtagh, program coordinator for the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado, said in a teleconference with reporters today.

It is solar material from the earlier solar flare this week that could spark amplified auroras on Thursday night. That storm, which erupted about 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT Sept. 9) from a sunspot region cataloged as number AR2158 — the same sunspot that later fired off the massive X1.6 flare. In terms of overall size, the spot measures about 40,000 miles across (62,000 km) — about five times the width of our Earth.

The Monday flare ranked as a long-duration class M4.6 and could ramp up northern lights displays for skywatchers living in northern latitudes and graced with clear skies. Observers must be far from city lights to see any northern lights, Murtagh said.

Such a flare, covering nearly 1 billion square miles of the sun's surface (called the photosphere), was described as "moderate" in intensity. M-class flares are stronger than the weakest category (C-class). They are second only to the most intense X-class solar flares, whichare the most powerful types of sun storms and can cause disruptions to satellites and communication systems, and pose a hazard to astronauts in space.

NOAA's SWPC initially forecast a 75 percent possibility of additional M-class flares and a 30 percent chance of an X-class flare from the same sunspot region over the next two or three days. That prediction was realized on Wednesday afternoon with the X1.6 solar flare.

The sun storms should not endanger satellites and astronauts in space, or spark severe interruptions with power grids on Earth, Murtagh said. But an increase in auroras is expected.

Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo of the northern lights from this week's solar storms, let us know at spacephotos@space.com.



The sun fires off a powerful X1.6-class solar flare on Sept. 10, 2014 in this image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare was associated with an Earth-directed solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection


Solar storm warning

NOAA forecasters issued a geomagnetic storm warning for Friday night (Sept. 12) when a cloud of electrified gas, known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, is expected to deliver a potent blow to Earth's magnetic field. The best forecast available suggests the cloud from Monday's sun storm could reach the Earth around 10 p.m. EDT Thursday night as a minor geomagnetic storm. 

The projected storm could reach moderate intensity levels with auroras visible across northern-tier U.S. states such as Maine, Michigan and Minnesota. There is usually a margin of error of several hours or more with these forecasts, so the cloud might arrive before sundown on Thursday or perhaps not until before sunrise early Friday morning.

In addition, if the stream of electrified particles turns out to be less energetic than forecast, aurora visibility might be confined to places farther to the north, and nearer to the Canadian border. Conversely, if the particle stream turns out to be stronger than forecast, an aurora might sighted farther south into the central U.S.

Those wanting to try to see any aurora activity should find a dark location with a flat northern horizon and look north. Look for greenish or reddish glows, or streamers.

A dark sky also helps. Unfortunately, the moon is currently in a waning gibbous phase and pretty much will light up the sky after it rises around 8:50 p.m. (your local time) on Thursday night. The sky will be darker of course before the moon rises, making it easier to observe whatever northern lights might be visible.


Sun flares are gas pains

Solar flares appear to be caused by a sudden release of magnetic energy. The flare itself occurs in the solar atmosphere, generating a brilliant emission of visible light, as well as ultraviolet waves and powerful X-rays.

With major flares, there is a disruption of radio communications shortly after the eruption. Indeed, Monday's eruption produced a loud blast of radio waves that was heard in shortwave receivers around the dayside of our planet.

But solar flares also can act as a type of explosion that sends streams of electrons and protons out into space. These electrons, protons and other particles are hurled out of the sun's magnetic field in a coronal mass ejection.

As these electrons and protons come into contact with the Earth's magnetic field andstream toward the magnetic poles, the chance of a collision between these charged energy particles and the rarefied gases of the upper atmosphere increases dramatically, producing a disturbance, or "magnetic storm," in the Earth's magnetic field. 

Along with causing additional disruptions to radio communications, a magnetic storm might also prompt a view of the aurora borealis,also known as the northern lights, across parts of the northern United States. The same effect occurs at the South Pole, where the aurora australis (or southern lights) occur.

But, predicting the aurora borealis can be as difficult as predicting the weather on Earth. So there are no guarantees you'll see anything.


Fall equinox ups aurora chances

The impending arrival of the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22 signals a transition from northern summer to fall in an astronomical sense. But it also signals the start of aurora-watching season.

From now through the end of October, the chances of sighting the glow of the mysterious northern lights will be reaching a peak.

Auroras appear to peak in frequency twice a year, with the other peak coming in the weeks before and after the vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

In fact, geomagnetic disturbances are almost twice as likely in spring and fall compared with winter and summer, according to 75 years of historical records analyzed by solar physicist David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Such disturbances are usually the cause for aurora displays.


http://news.yahoo.com/back-back-sun-storms-may-supercharge-earths-northern-214217497.html

[gwillybj]

I always get my hopes up a little when these things happen that I'll get to see an aurora this far south.  Buster's Gramma is still put out the Buster's Great-Gramma didn't wake her up to see when there was one in the 40s.

Last night was cloudy. I hope to look tonight - and remember the camera.

[Buster's Uncle]

Strong Solar Flares This Week a Rare Double Whammy, Scientists Say
LiveScience.com
By Laura Geggel, Staff Writer  4 hours ago



An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun on Sept. 10, 2014. These images were captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.



Two powerful solar storms arriving at Earth today have captured the public's attention for their potential to spark amazing auroras, but scientists say there's another reason to watch. The solar double whammy is actually somewhat rare.

The particles from the two flares could interact as they head toward Earth, and researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said they are monitoring the situation.

The sun unleashed a medium-sized flare on Monday (Sept. followed by a second, larger flare, called an Earth-directed X-class flare, on Wednesday (Sept. 10). Both are from the same active sunspot region (Active Region 2158) and are directed at Earth, said Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center, during a news conference yesterday (Sept. 11).

Solar flares are powerful eruptions of radiation. Large flares can produce coronal mass ejections (CMEs), waves of solar plasma and charged particles that can travel millions of miles an hour through space. Last night, as expected, the first of the CMEs made its appearance and is expected to cause geomagnetic storming, reaching moderate levels, this morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

The magnitude of the new CMEs, however, isn't that unusual, Berger said. Typically, the sun launches between 100 and 200 CMEs of this size during a solar cycle, a time encompassing about 11 Earth years, he said.

"The unique thing about this event is that we've had two in close succession, and the CMEs could possibly be interacting on their way to Earth, at the Earth's orbit or beyond perhaps — we don't know that yet," Berger said.



A three wavelength composite view of the X1.6-class solar flare peaking around 17:45 UT on Sept. 10, 2014.


In past solar cycles, it was not unusual to have two solar eruptions aimed at Earth at the same time. William Murtagh, a program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told Live Science in an email.

"But we have seen very few such occurrences during this cycle," Murtagh said. "It is generally recognized that a worst-case scenario geomagnetic storm would involve two or more CMEs in succession, prolonging a geomagnetic [storm] over several days."

What's more, the second CME is moving at a faster speed and catching up to the first one.

"Currently our models show that it is not going to catch up to and interact with that CME, the first CME, when it's at the Earth's orbit," Berger said. But, he added, "the models are not exact and the inputs are not exact. So we're keeping a close watch on whether this storm is stronger than might be expected because of this possibility of interaction."

The two CMEs may lead to geomagnetic storms hitting Earth and could cause problems with radio and GPS signals, Berger said.

"It's fairly rare for two CMEs of this magnitude to come in close succession like this," he said. "Because of this we cannot rule out higher storm levels," particularly in polar regions where interactions with the Earth's magnetic field are strongest.

The International Space Station will measure the CMEs as they pass by, giving scientists on Earth a 30- to 45-minute head start to prepare for the CMEs. But, on the upside, the solar event is expected to produce an array of beautiful northern lights, visible to people living in the northern United States, said William Murtagh, a program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center. 

Whatever the CMEs' effects, the Space Weather Prediction Center said it would be following them closely.

"We're keeping a close eye on these events," Berger said.

The geomagnetic storming from these events is expected to continue through Sunday (Sept. 14), according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Editor's Note: If you have an amazing aurora or general science photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Jeanna Bryner at LSphotos@livescience.com.


http://news.yahoo.com/strong-solar-flares-week-rare-double-whammy-scientists-150003499.html

[Buster's Uncle]

U.S. skygazers could get rare glimpse of northern lights
Reuters
By Victoria Cavaliere  40 minutes ago



Swirls of green and red appear in an aurora over Whitehorse, Yukon on the night of September 3, 2012 in this NASA handout image. REUTERS/Courtesy of David Cartier, Sr./NASA/Handout



SEATTLE (Reuters) - Stargazers across a wide swath of the United States could get a rare view on Friday of the northern lights, a colorful cosmic display normally only visible in far northern latitudes.

The northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, was expected to be visible after dark on the East Coast from Maine to as far south as Maryland, and across large parts of Michigan and Iowa.

Forecasters said northwestern states including Idaho and Washington were expected to get the best view of the phenomenon, in which the sky is illuminated with streaks and swirls of green, red, blue and yellow.

The northern lights are the result of collisions between the Earth's gaseous particles and matter released by the Sun's atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The collisions can jar the magnetosphere around the Earth's north and south poles, releasing colorful streams into the sky.

The solar flares that were sent towards Earth this week were very large, the NOAA said, indicating that the aurora will be visible at a far greater distance than normal.

"When activity picks up, it becomes brighter and the auroral oval expands towards the equator. During very large events, it is possible to see the aurora in the continental U.S.," it said.

The best time to view the lights are around midnight, and the activity could last for several evenings, forecasters said.

Areas with less cloud cover and less light pollution, such as rural areas or smaller towns, will have a better chance of capturing the intensity of the display, according to Canada's Northern Lights Center.

The solar flares can have another unusual effect, at times disrupting global positioning, radio, and satellite signals.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is called the Aurora Australis.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Doina Chiacu)


http://news.yahoo.com/u-skygazers-could-rare-glimpse-northern-lights-234215877.html

---

Seems like you got the right idea, gwilly.

[gwillybj]

The cloud shield stayed too late for me. We'll have to enjoy others' shots.

[Buster's Uncle]

It rained almost 3 inches last night, here.

[Buster's Uncle]

Solar Storms Are Bombarding Earth Now, Amped-up Auroras Possible
SPACE.COM
By Tariq Malik, Managing Editor | September 12, 2014 06:32am ET



Two waves of solar material blown out by powerful sun eruptions n this week are hitting the Earth now, and could amplify the aurora displays for observers in northern regions.

Scientists with NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, expected the first wave of solar flare particles — unleashed by a so-called coronal mass ejection, or CME, on Monday (Sept. — to reach Earth Thursday night (Sept. 11). A second wave, this one caused by a massive solar flare on Wednesday, is due to arrive between Friday and early Saturday.

"We do expect these storm levels to cause significant auroral displays across much of the northern U.S. on Friday night," SWPC Director Thomas Berger told reporters on Thursday. "With clear skies currently forecast for much of these regions, this could be a good opportunity for auroral sightings."



A massive solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, can be seen blasting out from the sun's surface after powerful X1.6-class solar flare on Sept. 10, 2014. The joint NASA-European Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this view of the eruption, which was aimed at Earth.  Credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO


The enhanced auroras would likely be most visible across the northern tier U.S. states, along the U.S.-Canada border, as well as in New England, added SWPC program coordinator William Murtagh. Clear, dark skies far from city light pollution are vital to observe any auroras.

The first of the two solar storm waves reached Earth late Thursday right on time, space weather center officials wrote in an update late Thursday. Also on Thursday, NASA released a new video of the X1.6 solar flare from its sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory, showing the event in two different wavelengths.

Coronal mass ejections are powerful eruptions of super-hot plasma than can be blown out from the sun during major solar flares. This week, the an active sunspot known as AR2158 sun fired off a moderate M4.6 solar flare on Monday, followed by a much more powerful X1.6-class flare on Wednesday, Sept. 10. X-class flares are the most powerful flares the sun experiences.

Sunspot AR2158 is about the size of between 10 and 20 Earths, but appears to be in the process of breaking up, Berger said. The huge X1.6 solar flare may have been its swan song as it breaks down, he added.



This NASA image shows the active sunspot AR2158, which unleashed a massive X1.6 solar flare on Sept. 10, 2014, as it appeared on Sept. 8, when it fired off a moderate M4.6 solar flare. On the right, Jupiter and Earth are superimposed to give a sense of the sunspot's size.  Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (Little SDO)


The two solar flares this week were accompanied by coronal mass ejections, and both were aimed at Earth. When directly aimed at Earth, the most powerful solar flares — events stronger than the X1.6 storm on Wednesday — can pose a danger to satellites and astronauts in space, and interfere with communication, navigation and even power distribution surfaces on the Earth's surface.

Berger said that the two CMEs from this week's solar storms could cause some radio and GPS navigation system hiccups, as well as voltage irregularities in power grids of the northern United States, but nothing too extreme.

"We don't expect any unmanageable impacts to national infrastructure from these solar events at this time, but we are watching these events closely," Berger said.



The huge X1.6-class solar flare is seen erupting from the sun in this three-wavelength composite image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Obervatory on Sept. 10, 2014. The solar flare occurred at 1:45 p.m. ET.  Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (Little SDO)


Berger did say that it is fairly rare for two significant coronal mass ejections to hit Earth head-on at nearly the same time. A minor radiation storm was detected from the solar flares, as well as temporary radio blackouts, space weather officials said.

Space weather officials did say that the most intriguing aspect of this week's solar flares are their potential for boosting this weekend's northern lights displays.

When charged particles from solar storms reach Earth, they are funneled to the polar regions by the planet's magnetic field and can great so-called geomagnetic storms.

A minor G1-class storm is underway now, with levels expected to rise to a potentially strong G3-class by Saturday evening, Berger said.

When solar particles collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere, they let create a glow that can be visible from the ground as auroral light. In the northern regions of Earth, this glow is known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights. In the south, it is called the aurora australis, or southern lights. Significant solar flares can amplify those displays into dazzling dances of ethereal light.

Editor's note:If you capture an amazing photo of the northern lights this weekend and would like to share the images with Space.com, you can send photos and comments in to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.


http://www.space.com/27132-solar-storms-bombarding-earth-now.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Early Aurora Photos from Solar Storm Double Whammy
SPACE.COM
By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer   |   September 12, 2014 01:03pm ET



Astrophotographer Matthew Moses caught a subtle aurora in Munger, Minnesota, just outside the Duluth area, on Sept. 11, 2014 just as the first of two solar storms was reaching Earth.  Credit: Matthew Moses



Skywatchers on the ground are already catching sight of some amazing looking auroras produced by solar material blown out from the sun during two major eruptions this week. Two photos sent in by observers in the United States show curtains of green lights dancing above Earth's surface.

"The display last night was very subtle, could tell it was there with my eyes but very faint," Matthew Moses told Space.com via email of his photo taken in Minnesota on Thursday (Sept. 11).

There's a chance that Moses's view of the northern lights could improve tonight. The first wave of solar particles — unleashed during a flare on Monday (Sept. — reached Earth Thursday (Sept. 11). Another round of material discharged during a larger flare Wednesday is due to batter Earth's magnetic field today.

Even astronauts on the International Space Station are keeping watch for new auroras. Early today, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman on the station posted a photo on Twitter of a shimmering green aurora as seen from his post on the orbiting lab. Wiseman posts photos of life in space under the name: @Astro_Reid. He also recorded a short Vine video of himself as he opened a protective window cover on the station's Cupola observation station.

"Beautiful #aurora are coming back. A welcome return indeed!" Wiseman wrote on Twitter.

Reid Wiseman        ✔   @astro_reid 
Follow
Beautiful #aurora are coming back.  A welcome return indeed!

12:49 PM - 12 Sep 2014

1,653 Retweets   1,823 favorites

Auroras are produced when charged particles from the sun interact with particles in Earth's atmosphere, creating the glowing lights people in northern latitudes can sometimes see in a clear sky.

The active sunspot called AR2158 shot off a M4.6 moderate solar flare on Monday, with a very powerful X1.6-class flare following close behind on Wednesday. Both flares had associated coronal mass ejections — hot bursts of plasma sometimes sent out into the solar system by the sun during a solar flare — that are now potentially producing the auroras on Earth.



College senior Tyler Baldino sent in this amazing photo of an aurora and the stars of the Big Dipper as seen from Canton, New York, just outside of St. Lawrence University, about 20 miles south of the St. Lawrence River. The image was taken on Sept. 12, 2014, as the first of two solar storms was reaching Earth.  Credit: Tyler Baldino


The double CME could supercharge the auroras, according to space weather experts. The solar storm may make for amazing aurora shows on Earth for people as far south as the northern United States, weather permitting.

The solar storm probably won't pose much of a threat to spacecraft in orbit and infrastructure on the planet. It's possible that the CMEs might cause some issues for GPS navigation, radio and power grids in the northern United States, but it shouldn't be an extreme problem, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center Director Thomas Berger.

Editor's Note: If you capture an amazing photo of the northern lights this weekend and would like to share the images with Space.com, you can send photos and comments in to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.


http://www.space.com/27136-aurora-photos-from-solar-storms.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Spectacular Auroras Light Up Alaska Skies (Photos)
LiveScience
By Jeanna Bryner, Managing Editor | September 13, 2014 02:30pm ET



Victor Chinn captured this aurora photo on Sept. 12, 2014, near Cleary Summit in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Credit: Victor Chinn



The superheated particles launched from the sun after two back-to-black solar flares erupted this week have created dazzling light shows for skywatchers.

Filling the skies near Cleary Summit in Fairbanks, Alaska, with their eerie green and purple-pink glow, the northern lights made for quite a sight. And Victor Chinn, a resident of Bellevue, Washington, was ready to capture the glory with his Canon 6D on Friday (Sept. 12). In fact, knowing that the solar flares and the resulting geomagnetic storms would likely supercharge the aurora in northern regions, he boarded a flight to Anchorage, Alaska.

Such colorful auroras occur when a stream of superheated particles interacts with Earth's magnetic field, and in doing so, releases quick-moving electrons from this magnetosphere region. The charged particles then bump up against atoms of oxygen and nitrogen. Result? The oxygen and nitrogen release their added energy (from the electrons) in the form of small bursts of colored light.

"I have been wanting to view the aurora borealis live since my childhood, but never got the opportunity (even after trying one time to see them in Iceland)," Chinn told Live Science in an email. "I cashed in some Alaska Airline frequent flier miles and got myself up here yesterday to Fairbanks, where I rented a car and drove up to near Cleary Summit for this photo."

A minor solar flare erupted from the sun on Monday (Sept. , followed by an intense X1.6-class solar flare on Wednesday at 1:46 p.m. ET, both originating from the sunspot AR2158, which is more than 10 times the size of Earth. The resulting coronal mass ejections, or streams of charged particles, zipped toward Earth, with the stronger flare sending these particles rocketing through space at millions of miles per hour. This stronger, second wave of superheated particles was expected to reach Earth yesterday (Sept. 12) and today (Sept. 13), though scientists don't expect any major disruptions on Earth.



Northern lights in the skies above Cleary Summit in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Sept. 12, 2014.  Credit: Victor Chinn


Scientists did expect the solar flares would result in supercharged northern light shows, and even astronauts aboard the International Space Station had their eyes (and instruments) on the ready.

"We do expect these storm levels to cause significant auroral displays across much of the northern U.S. on Friday night," Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado, told reporters on Thursday, as reported by Space.com (sister site to Live Science). "With clear skies currently forecast for much of these regions, this could be a good opportunity for auroral sightings."

While photographing the resulting northern lights, Chinn got another surprise. "While waiting in the dark for the right moment to photograph the northern lights, however, I did receive a, curious for him but a little frightening for me, visit from a fox who gave my backpack a really good sniff and a long stare for me," Chinn said.

Strong solar storms are currently bombarding Earth due to Wednesday's coronal mass ejection, according to a statement by the SWPC today. "Earth remains under the influence of this CME and will continue to for the near term."


http://www.livescience.com/47832-aurora-light-up-alaska-skies-photos.html

[gwillybj]

I've seen the aurora swirl as in Victor Chinn's second photo a couple of times, but a dozen or so times more like a lightly-blown sheet as in Tyler Baldino's photo. I missed the display this time - cloudy every night.