Skywatching

[ysabetwordsmith]

Sun news for May 10: SEVERE solar storm to bring auroras this weekend

Today’s top story: This could be a big one! Severe geomagnetic storming is forecast, starting later today. We expect the arrival of a series of at least five coronal mass ejections (CMEs, great burps of material from the sun), all released by this week’s X- and M-flare activity. Should you be afraid? No. So far, this is ordinary behavior from our sun at Solar Maximum, which happens about every 11 years. G2 (moderate), G3 (strong), and up to G4 (severe) conditions are expected. This will bring chances for auroral displays to middle and possibly even low northerly latitudes! Highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from places including Inuvik, Vancouver, Washington, Michigan, Montpelier, Tromsø, the UK and Russia, and visible low on the horizon in places such as Indiana, California, Brussels, Warsaw, Wellington, and Hobart. Wishing you all clear skies!


Screw that "low in the sky" stuff. We're in central Illinois, and the sky high overhead is filled with faintly drifting blobs of pink, almost-red, and peach.  Not sunset, that was an hour ago and the western horizon is a normal blue-gray.  Not clouds, those are also gray.  High, wispy veils of candy-colored light.  :D  Previously when I've seen an aurora, it's been a sheet of pale green or yellow, moving little if at all.  These are roving around like jellyfish.  So if your sky isn't solid clouds right now, go out and take a look.

Comments

[rix_scaedu]

Theoretically, I might be able to see them where I am. My mother did when she was a child and lived local to here (when and where there was less light pollution). However, guess whose location is having a nice big rain event through until about Tuesday?

I have A Theory about why there are no European reports of the Crab Nebula being visible during the day in 1054 when the Chinese reported its appearance.

[pshaw_raven]

Florida has a slim chance of seeing the aurora, but it will be more like "the sky looks weird tonight" than the beautiful shifting colors people further north will see. I'm still bummed about having spent ten days in Iceland one December and not seeing them once.

[greghousesgf]

couldn't see it here, must have been in another part of Calif.

[ndrosen]

We have clouds here in Arlington, and it’s an urban area with considerable light pollution. Nonetheless, I may head out later, and see whether there are auroras to be viewed.