Huge Coronal Mass Ejection Puts on Stunning Red Green Light Show Across USA…important…
Image via Wikipedia
KSPR News, 24th October 2011
Parts of the United States saw a red and pink glow in the sky Monday.
The Earth was hit hard on October 24th by a solar flare/CME and Auroras were seen in half of the U.S. as far South as N.C., Tn, Ark.
Here is a video of the Magnetic Field as it was being hit by the Flare.
From http://www.spaceweather.com/
Indeed, the display spread all the way down to Arkansas. “When I saw the alert, I ran outside and immediately saw red auroras,” reports Brian Emfinger from the city of Ozark. “Within a few minutes the auroras went crazy! Unbelievable!”
Auroras were seen or photographed in more than half of all US states including Alabama, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Montana, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas and California. Many observers, especially in the deep south, commented on the pure red color of the lights they saw. These rare all-red auroras sometimes appear during intense geomagnetic storms. They occur some 300 to 500 km above Earth’s surface and are not yet fully understood.
http://sherriequestioningall.blogspot.com/2011/10/video-of-magnetic-field-get…
Magnetic Field simulation video from this site:
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html
The Northern Lights were seen in areas that don’t often get to see the phenomenon known as the Aurora Borealis.
The appearance of the red glow prompted the National Weather Service offce in Memphis to issue this statement:
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF A RED GLOW IN THE NORTHERN SKY ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH REGION HAVE BEEN REPORTED. THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ARE CURRENTLY BEING SEEN IN MULTIPLE STATES ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST INCLUDING NORTHERN ARKANSAS…NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI…TENNESSEE …AND EASTWARD INTO NORTH CAROLINA. THIS AURORA IS BEING CAUSED BY A MASSIVE BURST OF SOLAR WINDS AIMED TOWARD THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.
The Space Weather Prediction Center reported a massive burst of solar wind blanketed the earth about eight hours sooner than predicted and allowed the phenomenon to be seen earlier and further south than usual.
Comment: There is a nice selection of red and pink aurora photos but the statement is particularly interesting. Please note: The minor CME that was expected had unexpected consequences by pushing the Earth’s magnetosphere as far back as geosynchronous orbit and that allowed in the solar wind. At this moment, the enigma is how this innocuous CME managed to pack such a hard punch unless Earth was clipped by the massive blast that was supposedly headed for Mars… The magnetosphere has been filled up with cosmic radiation all day and is only now clearing up. This is what NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) had to say:
2011-10-25 12:51 Geomagnetic Storming and the Aurora
The Coronal Mass Ejection observed Saturday morning arrived late Monday (EDT and GMT), about 8 hours earlier than model guidance suggested. A single period reaching the G2 (Moderate) level was observed followed by several periods of G1 (Minor) storming. While not a terribly significant geomagnetic storm, it did happen at a time when most of the United States was dark or getting dark. Couple that with the fact that large parts of the US had very clear skies, and you’ve got some beautiful sightings of the aurora across the northern tier of the US. Unfortunately for sky watchers, the geomagnetic storm appears to be in decline and no further significant space weather is expected at this time.
It’s almost like saying we were expecting a gust of wind but there was a hurricane instead… In the past, blood red auroras have only been associated with major geomagnetic storms and this was a red aurora that appeared in low latitudes without a major geomagnetic storm and whatever is being said by authorities to calm the public, this is a major enigma.
Here is the NASA’s Integrated Space Weather Analysis System, Magnetopause Standoff for the 25th, you can click the image and pick up the latest on page 2 of the Magnetopause cygnet selection.
Magnetosphere video – Oct 24 – Auroras in Half of U.S!
YouTube, 25th October 2011
href=”http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/images/test_6.20111024230515.jpg” target=”_blank”>
Comment: I am grateful, someone has put up the NICT movie. OK, this was a CME with a strongly south facing Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) component which is expected to provide the worse geomagnetic storms, but I have seen far worse blasts, without the accompanying auroras in the deep south of the USA. However, saying that, in this image, the inner magnetosphere, daytime and nighttime looks to be on fire…. The Earth’s magnetic field must be in tatters…
Aurora Explosion from Ozark, Arkansas (10-24-2011) [VIDEO]
YouTube, 25th October 2011
“Here is a little time lapse from stills showing the faint aurora explode in just a few minutes to become some of the brightest aurora ever seen at such low latitudes.”
This is not an exaggeration it does look like an explosion over Ozark, Arkansas…
Aurora borealis – Holland, Michigan [US] [VIDEO]
YouTube, 25th October 2011
Was tracking stars for trails .. something like an Aurora Borealis (Northern lights) crossed by. Not sure what it is – real or some other phenomenon. Its definitely not fake. @ holland, michigan, usa
It looks like this person had a camera set up to track stars and was lucky to get the aurora borealis too! This is a seriously cool 14 secs clip.
Norway: The most beautiful northern lights I’ve seen [17 PHOTOS]
NRK.no, 25th October 2011
“New solar cycle gave Southern Norway is the second spectacular light show in the night sky in just one month. – Jeg har aldri sett noe liknende, sier fotografen. – I have never seen anything like it, says the photographer.”
In the photo gallery, there is not one image of a blood red aurora. So… we must assume that the blast hit the USA full and/or the ionosphere is ‘weak’ over the United States. I can’t prove this last assertion, but we know the ionosphere has collapsed but we don’t know just ‘how’ collapsed. All we are told is an average value, but problems over the United States due to all the ‘experimentation’ and weather engineering is something that I have been considering for a long time.
Unbelievable Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Lapland, Finland [VIDEO]
YouTube, 22nd September 2011
“Amazing video of beautiful Aurora Borealis shot in Finnish Lapland in the winter of 2011″
Ok, this is advertising for Lapland, Finland, but this professional video is breathtaking… Please note, there is a lot of green and purple auroras but NO ‘blood red’ auroras and this just emphasises that the USA had a major geomagnetic event.”
Northern lights go way, way south (PHOTOS)
MSNBC News, 25th October 2011
A solar outburst sparked surprising displays of the northern lights as far south as Arkansas, Mississippi and North Carolina tonight, marking one of the farthest-reaching auroral shows in years.
As word spread about the geomagnetic storm, photos streamed onto the Web from the usual places, such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland, but also from locales that are typically too far south to see the northern lights: Oklahoma … Kansas … Kentucky … Tennessee …Virginia.
Among the websites tracking the fireworks are SpaceWeather.com, the Weather Channel and Universe Today.
Arkansas photographer Brian Emfinger was alerted to the northern lights by SpaceWeather.com’s aurora alert. “I ran out and put my camera out and immediately saw reddish aurora,” he wrote. “I ran out into the field, and within a few minutes the aurora went crazy!”
Comment: Hmmm….. These are some amazing photos. I seriously don’t know what to think and I am perplexed because there are people reporting seeing the Northern Lights in Arkansas! This what we would expect from a MAJOR event! This implies that the Earth’s magnetic field and magnetosphere is not providing much in the way of cosmic shielding… For the last three weeks we have seen the magnetosphere regularly filled up with radiation (NICT simulation), but I have yet to see an official source telling us when the Earth’s magnetic field is acting like a sieve and we are literally open to the cosmic elements, but we must presume that nobody wants to explain how bad things are… What concerns me most is that there are a bunch of space probes watching the sun, but it looks like there was no inkling that anything serious was about to happen until the blast was picked up at L1. Lagrange Point L1 is where the ACE satellite floats in a gravity well that allows it to ‘park up’ in space and monitor the conditions in space. Magnetic field strength, polarity and direction, EM photon energy, atomic particle types, atomic particle density etc and it was severely whacked by a blast that probably took a further 45 minutes to travel 1 million miles and slam into Earth. Since there are no reports of blackouts, we can only presume 1. this is not the type of event that generates severe geomagnetically induced currents (GICS) or 2. there was enough warning for preventative measures to be taken. Well, I am thinking this might be the start of a new level of cosmic awareness and the Northern Lights might become a regular part of our reality. Thanks to Leticia for sending me this great link.
Expected CME, But Unexpected Consequences? Part II
spaceweather.com, 25th October 2011
AURORAS IN THE USA: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth on Oct. 24th at approximately 1800 UT (2:00 pm EDT). The impact strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field, directly exposing geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma, and sparked an intense geomagnetic storm. As night fell over North America, auroras spilled across the Canadian border into the contiguous United States.
“Wow, wow, wow! These were the best Northern Lights I’ve seen since 2004,” says Shawn Malone, who took this picture from the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan:
“The auroras filled the sky in every direction–even to the south,” he says.
Indeed, the display spread all the way down to Arkansas. “When I saw the alert, I ran outside and immediately saw red auroras,” reports Brian Emfinger from the city of Ozark. “Within a few minutes the auroras went crazy! Unbelievable!”
Auroras were seen or photographed in more than half of all US states including Alabama, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Montana, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas and California. Many observers, especially in the deep south, commented on the pure red color of the lights they saw. These rare all-red auroras sometimes appear during intense geomagnetic storms.
Comment: Go to spaceweather.com for the photos, but this is such a major event, photos are being placed all over the internet. This means that hopefully, a few more people might wake up to the seriousness of our New Cosmic Reality.
Expected CME, But Unexpected Consequences?
spaceweather.com, 24th October 2011
AURORAS IN THE USA–NOW! Northern Lights have spilled across the Canadian border into the contiguous USA. Observers report auroras as far south as Ohio: image. The display was caused by the CME impact described below.
CME IMPACT: A CME hit Earth’s magnetic field on Oct. 24th at approximately 1800 UT (02:00 pm EDT). Acording to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the impact caused a strong compression of Earth’s magnetic field, allowing solar wind to penetrate all the way down to geosynchronous orbit for a brief period between 19:06 UT and 19:11 UT. Earth-orbiting spacecraft could have been directly exposed to solar wind plasma during that time.
The impact also sparked a geomagnetic storm, underway now. Geir Øye sends this picture from Ørsta, Norway:
Comment: As I stated, Solarham.com noted a small CME: “Partial Earth Directed CME: A disappearing solar filament from early Saturday morning did produce a bright and partially earth directed Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). There could be a small chance for minor geomagnetic storming by Oct 25.” spaceweather.com was too busy telling us about the megablast that was directed at the planet Mars but now this little ‘nothing’ CME has hit the planet and caused auroras in the USA as far south as Ohio…. so much for space weather forecasting… So, what would have happened if the megablast had been coming towards us? Would they have turned the national power grids off? NICT has removed the CME impact image, I am sure it was terrible… I have checked the ENLIL Heliosphere prediction model and that had NOTHING predicted to impact the Earth’s magnetic field… Quite frankly, space weather forecasters need to do better… See the NOAA/SWPC and USA Air force Geophysical Activity Summaries for the 23rd and 24th, below:
NOAA Solar Report – [SIDC Report]
Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force.
Updated 2011 Oct 24 2200 UTC
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity SDF Number 297 Issued at 2200Z on 24 Oct 2011
Geophysical Activity Summary 23/2100Z to 24/2100Z: The geomagnetic field was at mostly quiet with a single active period observed between 24/1800 – 2100Z. The ACE spacecraft observed an interplanetary shock passage at 24/1748Z with a subsequent sudden impulse of 13 nT observed at the Boulder magnetometer at 24/1832Z. Observations at ACE revealed increases in temperature, density and wind speed while the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) decreased southward to -20 nT for a brief period. IMF Bt reached 20 nT. Wind velocities increased from a steady 350 km/s to 525 km/s and remained so through the end of the period. This mostly likely was the arrival of a CME that occurred at 22/0058Z in association with an eruptive filament. The greater than 10 MeV proton event that began at 23/1500Z ended at 23/1605Z. A peak flux of 13 pfu was reached at 23/1535Z. Earlier in the period, another, weaker shock passage was observed in the ACE solar wind data at 23/2320Z. This was most likely the result of a glancing blow from a CME associated with an M1.6 x-ray event observed of the NW limb at 20/0325Z .
Source: Forecast – Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity Issued: 2011 Oct 24 2200 UTC
This is from the day before.
IIA. Geophysical Activity Summary 22/2100Z to 23/2100Z: The geomagnetic field was quiet. A greater than 10 MeV proton event began at 23/1500Z. So far the observed peak flux was 13 pfu at 23/1535Z. The source of the event is believed to be yesterdays long-duration M1 flare at 22/1110Z in Region 1314 (N29, L=053). IIB. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected be mostly quiet becoming quiet to unsettled with a chance of active periods on 25 October. This activity is expected in response to the arrival of a CME that occurred at 22/0058Z in association with an eruptive filament. The greater than 10 MeV proton event is expected to end by 24 October.
Source: Forecast – Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity Issued: 2011 Oct 23 2200 UTC
Related articles
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- Epic Geomagnetic Storm Erupts (science.slashdot.org)
