Ionic Gale

Big solar storm hitting Earth today, which could potentially rival the storm of 1859. I was watching SpaceWeather for news on this, knowing that there were a couple of sunspots spitting out some powerful CME’s. News is that there could be auroras visible as far south as middle latitudes, which covers the DC/VA area. (Although DC’s light pollution will probably obscure anything fainter than Magnitude 3.) More info: possible effects on electrical systems, MeFi input.

(Update: Just hours before the scheduled arrival of this amazing, momentously colossal solar flare, the comments have been hit by a massive trollar flare! Commenter’s weblog here. But he is right about all the media hype. The current north-alignment of the earth’s magnetic field is unconducive to strong geomagnetic activity, so we won’t be seeing any real fireworks unless the tilt changes over the weekend.)

Comments

  1. gammj says:

    (Mod: -1, Troll)

    Uh, NO, this will be NO WHERE NEAR this storm of 1859 in size. You might want to read ALL OF spacew.com before you and the media go spreading these lies further.

    Also, fyi, it has already struck and due to the earth’s magnetic field at the time, there was very little effect.

  2. Paulo says:

    Why, thank you, “gammj” (or is that yupislyr? [yupislyr.com] ) for pointing out my stupid media lies with such polite tact. I’m sure you touch many people with that glowing aura of friendliness and warmth.

    (You might want to read spaceweather.com again yourself, as they point out in today’s posting that another CME will be hitting today or tomorrow. I’m well aware that most of the screaming panic is media hype, but I’ll grant myself some excitement at the possibility that auroras may glow over Washington, DC tonight. If your kind benevolence will permit.)

  3. derek says:

    whatever, skallas.

  4. t-bone says:

    i’ve been following this at mefi.

    [ flame deleted – mod ]