Inbound CME

[catsmate]

Good thing I didn't try to stay up late last night.

My browser at work is painful to deal with. Does the spaceweather site indicate when and where the good viewing will be? I'd like to plan my evening here in New Hampshire.

Not for free, they have a subscription phone alert service.
You can get an aurora map from the Space Weather Prediction Center, try http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/index.html.

 

[LarianLeQuella]

Thanks catsmate1. Will have to hit that when I get home (because of aforementioned work connection...).

 

[MattusMaximus]

Still nothing here in Montana

 

[macdoc]

Norway got a big show.

MORE AURORAS IN THE OFFING? Earth's magnetic field is still reverberating from the CME impact of August 3rd, which sparked auroras as far south as Wisconsin and Iowa in the United States. Analysts believe a second CME is right behind it, due to arrive on August 5th. A second impact could re-energize the fading geomagnetic storm and spark a new round of Northern Lights. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.
At the height of the August 3rd display "the whole sky over northern Quebec filled with green and purple," says photographer Michel Tournay. "I couldn't decide where to point my camera!" Fortunately, he had a wide-angle lens:
http://spaceweather.com/

more shots here
http://www.spaceweather.com/submiss...me=Michel-Tournay-DSC_9759-100_1280975903.jpg
Meanwhile in Ringsaker, Norway, the auroras were so bright "we could see them through clouds, moonlight and midnight sunlight," says Ragnar Johnskås. "It was a lovely show."

maybe tonight it's our turn..

 

[Michael Mozina]

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2010/08/07/behind_20100807_euvi_195_512.mpg

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2010/08/07/ahead_20100807_euvi_195_512.mpg

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html

http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/images/test_6.20100809151144.jpg

I haven't heard much about the latest CME, but it obvious that the sun is becoming more active over time as it heads toward solar maximum. A significant CME forming region is now pointed our direction and it's already fired one salvo in our direction, albeit probably not as large as the previous CME.

 

[macdoc]

BTW - space events - the Perseids are starting noew peaking on the 12th and look to be a good year...

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PERSEID METEORS:[/FONT] The 2010 Perseid meteor shower is underway. "Last night I counted 28 Perseids between 1 am and 4 am--including this bright one zinging past Jupiter," says Pete Glastonbury of Devizes, Wiltshire, UK. Across the Atlantic in Mahaffey, Pennslyvania, sky watcher Kristin Troilo reports seeing "5 or 6 fantastic Perseids per hour." Rates should increase 10-fold by Thursday, August 12th, when the shower peaks. These early reports are a promising sign of things to come.

http://spaceweather.com/

With an increasingly active sun - sky watching should see some fun after a very long and dry period.