It's not quite like what a CME would be, but rather more like a solar burp. To put that in perspective, a solar sneeze would seriously mess up our society. A burp is not a problem. We'll be just fine.
It's only hit a K Index value of 7 or so and will hit the planet Earth around Friday and Saturday (using UTC).
So, what does this mean? It means those folks closer to the poles may experience some aurora borealis (australis for folks on the other half of the planet). Because of the solar energy, folks at higher latitudes (closer to the equator) may experience the Northern or Southern Lights.
I've been monitoring this since yesterday, using this page:
www.swpc.noaa.gov
(See that big 'hole', dark spot, on the Sun? That's the burp.)
Not wanting to leave out those elsewhere, I found this site - and don't know if there are better options for you folks:
cdn.softservenews.com
(Folks in NZ, at least the South Island, appear to be in the zone where it's very probable that they'll see the lights, assuming they have clear skies.)
I am, of course, covered in clouds and will probably not get to see the lights this time around. I'll scour the web for a live feed and hope for a bit of cloud-clearing. I am still going to be optimistic. We get the Northern Lights sometimes, so I've experienced it before - but it's always fun to see them again. Our magnetosphere is a pretty fortunate thing, though I suppose that's probably pretty common in the universe. Ah well...
Seeing them reminds me of how frail our existence is and how reliant we are on dumb luck as a species.
It's only hit a K Index value of 7 or so and will hit the planet Earth around Friday and Saturday (using UTC).
So, what does this mean? It means those folks closer to the poles may experience some aurora borealis (australis for folks on the other half of the planet). Because of the solar energy, folks at higher latitudes (closer to the equator) may experience the Northern or Southern Lights.
I've been monitoring this since yesterday, using this page:
Homepage | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
(See that big 'hole', dark spot, on the Sun? That's the burp.)
Not wanting to leave out those elsewhere, I found this site - and don't know if there are better options for you folks:
Aurora Australis Forecast. How to see the Southern Lights.
Aurora Australis Forecast, includes immediate, real time info on Southern Lights viewing
cdn.softservenews.com
(Folks in NZ, at least the South Island, appear to be in the zone where it's very probable that they'll see the lights, assuming they have clear skies.)
I am, of course, covered in clouds and will probably not get to see the lights this time around. I'll scour the web for a live feed and hope for a bit of cloud-clearing. I am still going to be optimistic. We get the Northern Lights sometimes, so I've experienced it before - but it's always fun to see them again. Our magnetosphere is a pretty fortunate thing, though I suppose that's probably pretty common in the universe. Ah well...
Seeing them reminds me of how frail our existence is and how reliant we are on dumb luck as a species.
