• Incoming Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

    During the early hours of July 9th, a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) billowed away from new sunspot 1247. A preliminary analysis of data from NASA's twin STEREO-A and -B spacecraft suggests that the flank of the CME could hit Earth's magnetic field sometime on July

  • Sun produced a series of strong shortwave radio bursts

    On July 7th, the sun produced a series of strong shortwave radio bursts. Click on the dynamic spectrum below to play a 21 MHz sample recorded by amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft in rural New Mexico. The action begins about 18 seconds into the 2-minute…

  • Sundiving comet

    During the late hours of July 5th, an unnamed icy comet from the outer solar system dove into the sun and disintegrated. Click on the arrow to witness the death plunge recorded by coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):Over the years,

  • Geomagnetic storm warning!

    A fast-moving stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth’s magnetic field. The combined effect of this stream plus a CME expected to arrive soon has prompted NOAA forecasters to declare a 30% to 35% chance of geomagnetic storms on June 23-24. High-latitude sky watchers

  • Impact of solstice solar flare is expected on June 24th

    A CME propelled toward Earth by the “solstice solar flare” of June 21st may be moving slower than originally thought. Analysts at the GSFC Space Weather Lab have downgraded the cloud’s probable speed from 800 km/s to 650 km/s. Impact is now expected on June 24th at

  • Incoming solar flare, expecting geomagnetic storm

    Magnetic fields above sunspot complex 1236 erupted during the early hours of June 21st, producing a C7-class solar flare and a full-halo CME. The expanding cloud appears to be heading almost directly toward

  • M1.3 solar flare produced, CME expected on June 17

    On June 14th around 08:10 UTC, a magnetic filament near the sun's eastern limb became unstable and erupted. The resulting blast hurled a bright and massive CME into space. The expanding cloud was observed by 3 spacecraft: STEREO-A, STEREO-B and SOHO. Researchers…