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This morning, an explosion on the sun hurled a CME almost directly toward Earth. It’s called a ‘halo CME’ because the storm cloud appears to make a halo around the solar disk as it moves in our direction. Minor to moderately-strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the CME arrives during the late hours of Oct. 11th or Oct 12th. Get the full story and forecast updates @ Spaceweather.com. GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters have modeled the trajectory of yesterday’s CME and confirmed that it will likely arrive on Oct. 11th. The impact could spark G1 to G2-class geomagnetic storms. If a moderately-strong G2-storm materializes, sky watchers in the United States could see auroras as far south as a line connecting New York to Oregon. Aurora alerts: SMS Text. A ‘HALO CME’ IS COMING: This could be the first head-on CME strike of young Solar Cycle 25. Yesterday, Oct. 9th, an M1.6-class solar flare in the magnetic canopy of sunspot SR2882 hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. SOHO coronagraphs recorded the storm cloud coming almost straight toward us:
This is called a ‘halo CME’ because CMEs heading directly for Earth seem to form a 360-degree halo around the sun. CMEs heading directly away from Earth can form a halo, too, but that’s another story. So far this year, dozens of CMEs have missed Earth. Many of them were near misses, provoking no more than minor geomagnetic unrest as they passed by. This time, however, the sun is shooting straight. A direct hit by this cloud on Oct. 11th could cause a geomagnetic storm. Note to tabloid reporters: This is not the Carrington Event! Likely storm levels will reach only G1 or G2 on a scale that goes all the way up to G5. Satellites and power grids will survive with ease while auroras dance harmlessly in high-latitude skies. |
Serving Western Prince Edward Island
