[Geysers] Auroras in YNP tonight or tomorrow?

[Paul Strasser]

The simple answer is: it depends.  Despite the amazing video this wasn't a
particularly huge CME.  It was an M-2 flare that wasn't pointed directly at
the Earth, although we will get a glancing blow (that 'M-2' is part of a
logarithmic scale that determines the energy of a flare.  It goes M1, M2.M9.
X0. X1, X2. where X2 is ten times as powerful as an M-2. The nice auroras we
saw in YNP during the last solar max often came from flares in the X2-X4
size).

 

But it's still possible.  Check this site: - www.spacew.com
<http://www.spacew.com/> , and see the Bz and Bt graph on the right.  The Bz
(a magnetic field reading) must be strongly south for us to see aurora.  And
check the K index, seen on the left menu item "Latest Hourly Indices"  If
it's 7 or higher then it's possible to see aurora.  

 

If you go outside at OF and wait for your eyes to adjust, look to the
northern horizon.  If there is a glow there that looks like a city over the
ridge (and the moon isn't up) then you're seeing a nascent auroral glow.  It
might develop into discrete rays or something far grander.  Or it might just
peter out to nothing.  It's always worth a look.

 

For those with cell phones in YNP you can get a solar activity update at
303-497-3235.

 

Paul

  _____  

From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
[mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Freund, Udo
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 12:58 PM
To: Geyser Observation Reports
Subject: [Geysers] Auroras in YNP tonight or tomorrow?

 

NASA announced this afternoon that a solar eruption involved an M2
(medium-sized) solar flare, an S1-class (minor) radiation storm, and a
spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) from sunspot complex 1226-1227.
After ballooning high above the Sun, the large cloud of matter rained back
down onto an area covering almost half the solar disk.  There is a video @
URL http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/123377553.html

 

The CME should deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field during the
late hours of June 8th or 9th. High-latitude skywatchers should be alert for
auroras when the CME arrives.

 

Will auroras be visible from Yellowstone?  Let us know, please, if you see
them.

 

Thanks, 
Udo Freund 
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit
there."
--Will Rogers 

 

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