SIGNIFICANT SOLAR FLARE, NOT EARTH-DIRECTED: Magnetic fields snaking over the sun’s northeastern limb erupted on August 18th around 01:02 UT. The M5.5 class eruption was not Earth-directed, but it could herald a significant uptick in geoeffective solar activity as the new active region turns toward Earth in the days ahead. Solar flare alerts: text, phone.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the eruption:
from: Spaceweather.com
SOLAR SLINKY: Solar activity is low this week. Nevertheless, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted something interesting happening on the sun’s southwestern limb. Click to view the “solar slinky” in action:
The loops in the movie are made of magnetism, glowing red-hot because they are filled with 80,000 K solar plasma. They move with slinky-action as they are buffeted by winds in the sun’s atmosphere and jostled by minor explosions on the stellar surface below. Of course they are much bigger than a terrestrial slinky. The entire Earth could fit through any of the loops with room to spare.
fr/spaceweather.com
SUN SERPENT: Amateur astronomers arpund the world are monitoring a gigantic filament of magnetism on the sun. If one end of the filament were on Earth, the other end would reach all the way to the Moon. The dimensions of the structure make it an easy target for amateur solar telescopes. Richard Fleet sends this picture from his backyard observatory in Wiltshire, England:
This filament is filled with billions of tons of plasma, yet it has remained suspended above the surface of the sun for days. Such a massive structure, buffeted as it is by winds and currents in the sun’s atmosphere, is unlikely to remain stable much longer. If the filament collapses, it could crash into the surface of the sun and spark a powerful type of explosion called a Hyder flare.
fr/spaceweather.com
CHANCE OF STORMS: NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on August 7/8. That’s when a coronal mass ejection (CME) hurled into space by a filament eruption on Aug. 4 could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field
fr/spaceweather.com
ERUPTING MAGNETIC FILAMENT: A filament of magnetism connecting sunspots AR1538 and AR1540 rose up and erupted on August 4th. Look for the extreme UV glow of hot plasma in this movie recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory:
As the filament ripped through the sun’s atmosphere, it propelled a massive CME into space: movie. The expanding cloud does not appear to be on a collision course with Earth, although a glancing blow might be possible 2 to 3 days hence.
fr/spaceweather.com
SOLAR ACTIVITY PICKS UP: Sunspot AR1532 is crackling with M-class solar flares. The latest, an M6-class eruption on July 28th (2056 UT), produced a bright flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation, shown here in a snapshot from the Solar Dynamics Observatory:
Update: Contrary to earlier reports, this explosion did produce a CME and the cloud is heading for Earth. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will reach our planet on July 31st at 1500 UT (+/- 7 hours). Weak to moderate geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives.
from: spaceweather.com
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on July 29-30 in response to a high-speed solar wind stream buffeting Earth’s magnetic field. Even stronger storming could occur on July 31st when a CME associated with yesterday’s M6-flare arrives. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras for the next three nights.
fr/spaceweather.com
M6-CLASS FLARE: Solar activity is picking up. For the second day in a row, sunspot AR1532 has unleashed a moderately-strong solar flare. The latest, an M6-class eruption, occurred on July 28th at 2056 UT. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme UV flash:
It is too soon to say if the eruption produced a coronal mass ejection (CME). If it did, Earth would likely receive no more than a glancing blow from the cloud. The sunspot is too far off disk center to be very geoeffective. This could change in the days ahead, however, as the sunspot turns toward Earth.
from: spaceweather.com
AROUND THE BEND? The Earth-facing side of the sun is mostly blank and quiet. This could change in the days ahead as a new sunspot emerges over the sun’s southeastern limb. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory can see the active region’s magnetic canopy, which is towering over the limb in advance of the sunspot itself:
The core of the active region should show itself no later than Tuesday. Meanwhile, solar activity is low. NOAA forecasters estimate a mere 1% chance of M- or X-class solar flares.
from: spaceweather.com
