John Homenuk

Multiple CME’s prompt geomagnetic storm watch

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As we mentioned in a post yesterday, the sun has been very active of late. In fact, another solar flare today means that the sun has erupted with two M-Class solar flares and one X-Class solar flares in the last three days alone. The first two solar flares, from the same sunspot, are both earth-directed — and moving at a reasonably fast pace. The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Moderate (G2) Geomagnetic storm watch for the first M-Class solar flare, and has since issued a G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch for the X-Class solar flare, expected to reach Earth on Saturday.

As NASA puts it, solar falres are giant explosions on the sun that sent energy, light and high speed particles into space. These flares are often associated with magnetic storms known as CME’s, or Coronal Mass Ejections. Both of the two major solar flares from Tuesday and Wednesday were associated with CME’s. Although solar flares aren’t harmful to humans, solar flares and CME’s can create long lasting radiation storms above our heads — which can harm satellites, communication grids, and even power grids on the ground.

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John Homenuk

X Class solar flare could produce bright aurora

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Two CME’s (Coronal Mass Ejections) from the sun during the last two days have astronomers brimming with excitement. And although the details aren’t totally certain, the earth-directed nature and magnitude of the solar flares have photographers racing for their cameras in hopes of capturing the elusive aurora borealis.

At 1:45pm today, an X-Class (strongest level) solar flare occurred — right on the heels of an M Class flare from Tuesday. Sunspot AR2158 is the culprit. A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued as a result of the Tuesday ejection from the sun. That  flare, despite being weaker than Wednesdays, was long duration — lasting almost 6 hours. During the last few weeks, multiple weaker CME’s have produced auroras throughout the world. The incoming aurora could be brighter, last longer, and extend farther south from the poles than its predecessor.

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John Homenuk

Small asteroid, discovered days ago, will pass Earth Sunday

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Talk about a close call. An asteroid, designated 2014RC, was discovered just 5 days ago by the Catalina Sky Survey in Tuscan, Arizona. The results were reported to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachussets. The discovery came with only a slight bit of alarm, as the orbital elements quickly revealed that the small asteroid would pass safely away from the earth. At the time of its closest approach, the asteroid will be over New Zealand at around 2:18pm Eastern time on Sunday.

The reflected light from the asteroid suggests it is about 60 feet in size — so a small asteroid at that. Still, an impact from such an object could cause significant impacts on our planet. At its closet point, the asteroid will pass approximately 1/10 of the distance from the Earth’s center to the moon, or about 25,000 miles. That asteroid’s magnitude will only reach 11.5, making it virtually unobservable to the unaided eye.

Graphic depicting the path of asteroid 2014RC. (NASA).

Graphic depicting the path of asteroid 2014RC. (NASA).

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John Homenuk

Major meteor shower possible tonight: Things to know

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A few days ago, we detailed the upcoming Camelopardalid meteor shower. The day (and night) is finally here! With the new, potentially major meteor shower peaking Friday Night into Saturday morning, there are still many questions to be answered. We do our best to answer them, provide additional information, and inject our weather knowledge into the potential amazing celestial event — to try and forecast whether or not our area will be able to view it.

The Basics

The new meteor shower was discovered and timed by scientists last year — and was known to be possible before that. It is occurring, as most meteor showers do, as the Earth passes hrough the debris path of a comet. For instance, Earth has been passing through Comet Swift-Tuttle debris to create the Perseid meteor shower for thousands of years.This time, it’s Comet 209P/LINEAR which is causing the meteor shower — and Earth has never crossed paths with its debris before. When Earth passes through the debris fields of comets, the bunches of rock (of varying density) crash through the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up as they do so and creating an amazing spectacle known as shooting stars, or meteors.

Accordingly, on the night of Friday May 23rd into Saturday May 24th, scientists have been able to pinpoint the interaction between Earth and Comet 209P/LINEAR’s debris field. The debris field just so happens to be quite dense, and this has scientists wondering if the meteor shower just may reach “storm level” — or at the very least provide a very strong meteor shower.

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