*SEVERE geomagnetic storm possible with U.S. aurora borealis display* *Northern lights possible at mid-latitudes early Sunday morning or Sunday night* *Specifics TBD – map coming later today* On Friday evening Eastern time, a major solar flare occurred from sunspot #4100. A sunspot is a bruise-like discoloration on the sun... that throbs and pulsates with energy. Following the solar flare, which is a flash of light and radiation, a significant CME — or coronal mass ejection — was hurled directly toward Earth. Imagine a shockwave of magnetism and high-energy particles rippling through space like an interstellar tsunami. It’s heading for us at speeds around 1,200 miles per second — that’s very fast! We know it’s Earth-directed because our sensors indicate a “full halo” CME. See the solar material appearing to fan out in all directions? That’s an indicator it’s Earth-bound. It’s like if a train is coming right at you — you’d only see the train getting bigger. Once this electromagnetic shockwave reaches Earth, the energy will be absorbed and dissipated by our magnetic field. It will be transformed into visible light — the aurora. Since there’s a LOT of energy, we’ll probably get the aurora borealis (the northern lights) down to the mid latitudes. This could mean parts of the central United States, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic and perhaps as far south as northern California. There’s even a chance that parts of the Mid-South could see the aurora IF a direct impact occurs and the orientation of Earth’s magnetic field cooperates. Scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado are working to iron that out.show more

Matthew Cappucci

71,909 subscribers

Поделиться Скачать