| The Holonet Boards » Leaving Orbit.... » AURORA ALERT |
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Graysith
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posted 09-14-2005 02:30 PM
Ok, guys, there's been this really active sunspot, No. 798, that since September 7 has been shooting off NINE solar flares -- one of them a monstrous class X-17. (Luckily for us, that one went off when the spot was just peeping around the limb of the sun as it rotated, so it wasn't directed toward the earth. If it had been, we'd probably have had some black- or brown-outs, fried satellites, messed up televisions and so on, maybe some power surges, all kinds of general electrical ruckus.) Anyway, this fantastic spot has shot out another class X flare, this one aimed at us. (X-1 class) The coronal mass ejection ("CME," or "stuff" shot off the surface of the sun) is expected to impact our atmosphere perhaps as early as tonight (September 14-15). There is a general aurora alert for all latitudes, including locations as far south as California or Arizona. (No guarantee, as there are other factors which come into play, but it looks good...) Best viewing time is after your local midnight, but I've seen skies brightly lit up just after dusk! For more information, go to www.spaceweather.com. WATCH THE SKY!!! [ 09-14-2005 02:32 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ] |