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CME
IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection
(CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on March 8th around
1100 UT. The impact was weaker than expected, sparking
only a mild (Kp=5) geomagnetic storm. However, the
storm could intensify in the hours ahead depending
on electromagnetic conditions in the wake of the
CME. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert
for auroras. Aurora
alerts: text,
phone.
Giovanni Cappelli sends this picture
from the tundra east of Murmansk, Russia:
"We were in the tundra waiting
for the CME," says Cappelli. "The auroras
were better than expected this time. This photo
resembled green fire shooting up from the snow "
more images: from
Pavel Kantsurov of Norilsk, Russia; from
Aleksander Chernucho of Kola peninsula, Russia,
Mt. Khibiny; from
Chad Blakley of Aurora Sky Station, Abisko National
Park, Sweden; from
Timo Newton-Syms of Ruka, Finland; from
Timo Veijalainen of Sodankylä, Finland;
HUGE
SUNSPOT: Active sunspot AR1429
continues to grow. It is now more than seven times
wider than Earth, which makes it an easy target
for backyard solar
telescopes. In fact, yesterday, David Tremblay
of Alto, New Mexico, saw it using no telescope at
all. All he needed was a dust storm:
"The dust blowing from Tularosa
Basin was so dense, we could observe the sun with
the naked eye--and there was sunspot AR1429. Wow!"
says Tremblay.
The behemoth spot has unleashed four
strong flares since it emerged on March 2nd, including
the X5-class eruption of March 7th. More could be
in the offing. The active region has a "beta-gamma-delta"
class magnetic field that harbors energy for additional
X-class eruptions. Solar
flare alerts: text,
phone.
more images: from
Jett Aguilar of Quezon City, Philippines; from
James Kevin Ty of Manila, Philippines; from
Harald Paleske of Langendorf b. Weißenfels,
Germany; from
Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from
Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Veszprem, Hungary; from
Ron Wayman of Tampa Florida; from
John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from
Robert Lowton of Whaley Bridge, Peak District,
United Kingdom; from
José Geraldo Mattos of Florianópolis, Jurerê
Internacional, Santa Catarina, Brasil; from
Matthew Wastell of Brisbane, Australia; from
Kiss Csongor of Derecske, Hungary
February
2012 Aurora Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002]
