New sunspot 1163 doesn't look very impressive, but the M3-class flare it unleashed yesterday was absolutely spectacular. Click Eastern Blast to download a movie recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
When the eruption occurred, sunspot 1163 was behind the sun's eastern limb. Nevertheless, enough ultraviolet radiation spilled over to create waves of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere. Low-frequency radio signals, which bounce off of ionized air, were strongly disturbed, as shown in this plot from a VLF monitoring station in Slovakia. Otherwise, Earth was little affected. Plasma clouds produced by the blast did not come our way.
Latest articles
Winter cold extremes linked to high-altitude polar vortex weakening
Over the last decades, the stratospheric polar vortex has shifted towards more frequent weak states which can explain Eurasian cooling trends in boreal winter in the era of Arctic amplification. When the strong winds that circle the Arctic slacken, cold polar air...
Giant tsunami reshaped California coastline
New evidence suggests a gigantic tsunami hit the California coast 900 years ago, removing three to five times more sand than any El Niño storm in history. Since large tsunamis hit the northwestern US every 300 to 500 years and the last occurred in January...
12 000 years ago, Florida hurricanes heated up despite chilly seas
According to new research by Michael Toomey and his colleagues from The Geological Society of America's Journal Geology, Category 5 hurricanes may have slammed Florida repeatedly during the chilly Younger Dryas, 12 000 years ago, as hurricane-suppressing effects...
Impressive reentry of Russian SL-4 rocket body over Dubai, UAE
An atmospheric reentry of a Russian SL-4 rocket body created a spectacular show over the Middle Eastern countries late Monday, October 16, 2017, witnessed and recorded by numerous people. The event lasted more than 55 seconds and was visible from Iraq, Bahrain, UAE...
Death toll mounts to 72 as another rainmaker nears flood-ravaged Vietnam
The death toll caused by worst floods to hit Vietnam in decades has reached 72, Vietnamese officials said Monday, October 16, 2017. 30 people are still unaccounted for, including 13 in Yen Bai and 10 in Hoa Binh. The announcement comes on the same day the country...
Unprecedented power outages as deadly Ex-Hurricane "Ophelia" hits Ireland
Over 360 000 homes and businesses are currently without power in Ireland as Ex-Hurricane "Ophelia" tracks over the country with hurricane-force winds. The number of outages is only going to increase and could easily reach 500 000 within the next couple of...
ESO: Merging neutron stars scatter gold and platinum into space
ESO’s fleet of telescopes in Chile have detected the first visible counterpart to a gravitational wave source. These historic observations suggest that this unique object is the result of the merger of two neutron stars. The cataclysmic aftermaths of this kind...
Asteroid 2017 TH5 to flyby Earth at 0.26 LD on October 16, 2017
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2017 TH5 will flyby Earth at a very close distance of 0.26 LD (~99 840 km / 62 073 miles) from the surface of our planet at 17:15 UTC on October 16, 2017. This asteroid, first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey on October 15, 2017,...
Destructive wildfires in Portugal and Spain claim at least 31 lives
At least 27 people have been killed, dozens more injured and an unconfirmed number is missing after devastating wildfires fueled by hot temperatures and strong winds produced by Hurricane "Ophelia" swept through central and northern parts of Portugal on...
Asteroid 2017 TF5 flew past Earth at 0.73 LD, 4 days before discovery
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2017 TF5 flew past Earth at 0.73 LD (~280 320 km / 174 182 miles) at 07:40 UTC on October 10, 2017, 4 days before it was discovered. This is the 36th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the...
Met Eireann: Hurricane "Ophelia" will be the most severe weather event since 1961
Hurricane "Ophelia" will be the most severe weather event to hit Ireland since Hurricane "Debbie" hit in 1961, resulting in 15 deaths, Met Eireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service warns. Ophelia is expected to be near the southwest tip...
Catastrophic flooding affects thousands of families in conflict-ridden Pibor, South Sudan
Thousands of families already struggling because of ongoing violence in Pibor are in desperate need of further assistance after severe flooding washed away houses, livestock, and farmland in the Jonglei region of South Sudan. Torrential rain has caused major damage...
Record-breaking Hurricane "Ophelia" to pass SE of Azores before hitting Ireland and UK
The center of record-breaking Category 3 Hurricane "Ophelia" is expected to pass to the southeast of the Azores around 00:00 UTC on October 15, 2017 and then head toward Ireland and the United Kingdom. Ophelia is expected to be a powerful extratropical...
Sudden onset disasters to make 14 million people homeless every year
Research findings released October 13 on International Day for Disaster Reduction forecast a continued rise in homelessness among people in the world’s most disaster-prone countries unless significant progress is made in managing disaster risk. A unique...
Study confirms large earthquakes along Olympic Mountain faults
A comprehensive study of faults along the north side of the Olympic Mountains of Washington State emphasizes the substantial seismic hazard to the northern Puget Lowland region. The study examined the Lake Creek-Boundary Creek and Sadie Creek faults along the north...
Astronomers discover unusual spindle-like galaxies
Using the CALIFA survey, astronomer Athanasia Tsatsi (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy) and her colleagues studied the spindle-like galaxies and found that these slender galaxies, which rotate along their longest axis, are much more common than previously thought....
Volcanic activity at Ambrym continues at minor levels, alert level remains at 3
The volcanic activity at Ambrym is continuing at the level of minor eruption state and its Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 3, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) reported on October 13, 2017. The volcanic activity is highly likely to go...