Tonight (the 13th) and tomorrow night, look north. In addition to the Geminid Meteor Shower, there was a large coronal mass ejection from the sun that could cause the Aurora Borealis (read Northern Lights, just in case) to be visible as far south as the "middle US". Could cause some nice Sporadic-E as well. See the alert text below:
The solar active region that came around the limb last week is now facing
Earth. There was a large solar flare with attendant coronal mass ejection
from this region at 0224 GMT on the 13th. This interplanetary disturbance
should reach the Earth on the morning of the 14th GMT. It could take up to
12 hours to transfer its power to the geomagnetic field. The conclusion is
watch the sky tonight and tomorrow night in North America perhaps as far
south as the middle US and tomorrow night in Europe as far south as northern
Europe. The aurora should be visible also from Tasmania and South New
Zealand.
You can watch our simulation of the shock travel from the sun to the planets
if you go to http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
and click on the black map on the left side of the page to watch the Java
movie of the interplanetary shock.
Click on the short-term (1 hr) forecast map on the right hand side of the
page to see what will happen in the next hour. That way you won't have to
stand around outside like those in the maritimes right now in a 36 deg.
drizzle and watch the cloudy sky.
If it is clear where you are, watch for the Geminid meteors too.
The solar active region that came around the limb last week is now facing
Earth. There was a large solar flare with attendant coronal mass ejection
from this region at 0224 GMT on the 13th. This interplanetary disturbance
should reach the Earth on the morning of the 14th GMT. It could take up to
12 hours to transfer its power to the geomagnetic field. The conclusion is
watch the sky tonight and tomorrow night in North America perhaps as far
south as the middle US and tomorrow night in Europe as far south as northern
Europe. The aurora should be visible also from Tasmania and South New
Zealand.
You can watch our simulation of the shock travel from the sun to the planets
if you go to http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
and click on the black map on the left side of the page to watch the Java
movie of the interplanetary shock.
Click on the short-term (1 hr) forecast map on the right hand side of the
page to see what will happen in the next hour. That way you won't have to
stand around outside like those in the maritimes right now in a 36 deg.
drizzle and watch the cloudy sky.
If it is clear where you are, watch for the Geminid meteors too.
