STRONG FLARES ARE UNDERWAY
Solar activity has reached high levels on Nov. 6th as sunspots AR3883 and AR3886 crackle with strong solar flares.
Extreme UV radiation is ionizing the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing shortwave radio blackouts. Ham radio operators DXing across the southern hemisphere may notice intermittent loss of signal below 30 MHz.
There’s a good chance that one or more CMEs are heading for Earth, however, fresh coronagraph data from SOHO are required to check for incoming storm clouds.
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1)
NOAA forecasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on Nov. 7th when a CME is expected to graze Earth’s magnetic field. The CME was hurled into space by an M3.8-class flare from sunspot 3883 on Nov. 3rd.
Taurids Meteor Shower
The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10.
The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of November 4. The first quarter moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
South pole radio blackout
For the 7th day in a row, energetic protons from the sun are raining down on Earth. It’s an almost S1-class radiation storm, resulting from the collective action of three X-class solar flares since Oct. 24th. These protons are causing a shortwave radio blackout inside the Antarctic Circle
PROTONS ARE RAINING DOWN ON EARTH
For the 3rd day in a row, energetic protons are raining down on Earth. It’s an S2-class radiation storm. The protons were accelerated by X-class solar flares on Oct. 24th and 26th. As a result of the storm, a shortwave radio blackout is underway inside the Arctic Circle, and cameras on spacecraft are being fogged.
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH
NOAA forecasters are predicting a G1-class geomagnetic storm on Oct. 26th when a CME is expected to graze Earth’s magnetic field. The CME was hurled into space yesterday by a powerful solar flare (X3.3) from sunspot AR3869. It is not heading straight for our planet, but even a glancing blow from this potent CME could spark bright auroras at high latitudes.