Science & Technology

Geomagnetic storm of an "unknown source"

Spaceweather.com
Sat, 01 Jun 2013 06:11 UTC

A G2-class (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm is in progress following the arrival of an interplanetary shock wave on May 31st. The source of the shock is not known; it might have been a minor CME that left the sun without drawing attention to itself. The impact sparked auroras across many northern-tier US states. This photo, for instance, comes from Christopher Griffith in Baxter, Minnesota:

"I wasn't expecting to see any lights, but right before the midnight it broke loose and the sky lit up," says Griffith. "Sadly the clouds quickly filled in my little window, and the auroras were gone. Just thankful for what I got so see!" Elsewhere in the USA, auroras were sighted as far south as Colorado, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.

High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras tonight as Earth's magnetic field continues to reverberate from the impact. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on June 1st. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Reader Comments

Hugh Mann · 2013-06-01T06:50:30Z

I too noticed those words from Spaceweather. Could it be the wave?

Luke ·

· 2013-06-02T14:56:26Z

katesisco · 2013-06-01T08:32:43Z

Asteroid bypass

was due last night so this is probably the source of the shock wave. Space is not empty.

dman · 2013-06-02T05:38:58Z

Coronal Hole Solar Wind Stream

It was caused by the sharp edge of a mid disc coronal hole solar wind stream from the sun.

rbateman · 2013-06-03T14:49:03Z

Then every recurrent high-speed Coronal Hole stream hitting the Earth would produce auroras.

Ruth · 2013-06-02T06:04:48Z

Something like that seems to have happened in the Southern Hemisphere too.

[Link]

sass · 2013-06-03T03:28:14Z

OMG - wow.. it's spectacular. I'd love to view this. How wonderful.

sass · 2013-06-03T03:19:03Z

Southern Hemisphere

We had a very large storm here in Melbourne, Australia, the largest I have ever experienced both in length and intensity. The thunder and lightning-cracks felt like they were right on my doorstep. The storm went for very long time also, probably with a heap of rain. Found out later about the "interplanetary shock wave" on the 31st, whatever that is.

rbateman · 2013-06-04T15:00:23Z

A warning note

The efforts to sweep the present state of the Sun under the rug...by NASA and others...and the unknown how & why it got to this state, should not be underestimated.
To wit:
The PTB are overcounting sunspots, overstating by a factor of 10 how strong the current Flares are, omitting critical details about Coronal Holes, CME's and Solar Wind speeds/tilt, etc.
The predictions: [Link]
Typical results: [Link]
So, we have a disinformation campaign on the Sun, and it bears remarkable resemblance to the fudging/omitting/biased data selecing/misdirection of Global Warming.
It is important to bear in mind the relevance of satellite data on the Sun:
There are only 2 Solar Cycles observed outside the 'windows' of Earth's atmosphere.
Solar Cycle 23 (medium) and Solar Cycle 24 (very weak).
That means phenomena are seen for which we know not whether they are normal or abnormal.
Be wary of official reports stretching the truth.