aurora borealis

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We can see the northen lights if the weather condition changes better tonight.

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Aurora forecast

Extreme+: 0 1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9

Forecast: Auroral activity will be high(+). Weather permitting, highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Barrow to as far south as Kodiak and King Salmon.

Forecaster Comments: The auroral activity index of 5 and 6 that occurred on the 7th (today) is the result of the solar event on the 5th that was the subject of the previous alert. Aurora should have been visible as far south as the middle of the US on the night of Mar 6/7, as we predicted in the last alert.

A large solar event early on the 7th of March was directly more closely to the Earth-Sun line, and should produce more activity. The debris should reach Earth sometime in the late morning of March 8 GMT. This means that the resulting aurora may be visible late on the night of the 7th/8th from Alaska, but Western Russia, Europe, and the US will probably see activity levels of Kp=5 or greater on the night of March 8/9.

Note that activity on the 7th may still be greater than Kp=4.

We are having trouble with the short-term forecast panel on the aurora forecast website http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/, but watch the short term forecast to determine what the activity level will be in the next hour.

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The sun unleashed a huge flare Thursday (July 12), the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week.

The solar flare peaked at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) as an X-class sun storm, the most powerful type of flare the sun can have.

"It erupted from Active Region 1520, which rotated into view on July 6," NASA officials said in an alert. Active Region 1520, or AR1520, is a giant sunspot currently facing Earth.  

According to NASA and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SPWC), which is operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, today's sun storm registered as an X1.4-class solar flare. It is more powerful than the X1.1 flare that erupted on July 6 from another giant sunspot known as AR1515, making this latest tempest the strongest solar storm of the summer so far.

Because the solar flare erupted toward Earth, it may send a wave of charged particles toward our planet that could supercharge northern lights displays.

Radio blackouts for some high-frequency communications systems are possible for about an hour, according to SWPC officials.

X-class solar flares  are the strongest type of storms that occur on the sun. When aimed at Earth, the most powerful X-class flares can endanger satellites and astronauts in space, interfere with navigation and communications signals, and damage power system infrastructure on our planet.

Today's solar flare marks the sixth X-class solar flare of the year. While it is the strongest yet of the summer season, which began in late June, it is not the most powerful sun storm of 2012. That title is currently held by a March event that unleashed an intense X5.4-class solar flare.

The sun is currently in the midst of an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle. The current cycle is called Solar Cycle 24 and is expected to peak in 2013.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2 ... spot/#ixzz20WvP55dl