At a NASA teleconference yesterday, researchers working with data from the Messenger spacecraft offered new evidence that gusts of solar wind are penetrating Mercury’s magnetic field and eroding material off the planet’s surface. The spacecraft has actually flown
As predicted by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at ~03:30 UT on Sept 17th. The impact sparked a moderate geomagnetic storm (in progress) and auroras around the Arctic Circle. High-latitude sky watch
New sunspot AR1295 is emerging over the sun’s northeastern limb and crackling with solar flares. The strongest so far, a C9.9-category blast, did something remarkable. Click on the arrow to watch an extreme ultraviolet movie from NASA’s Solar Dynamics
The first of several CMEs en route to Earth struck our planet’s magnetic field on Sept. 9th around 1130UT. The impact sparked a strong (Kp=7) geomagnetic storm, which is now subsiding. Last night Northern Lights were spotted in the United States as far south
UPDATE: The Geomagnetic Storm has subsided over the past few hours. However, the solar wind remains energized and occasional pulses of activity are expected for another 24 hours. Region 1283, the responsible party back at the Sun, decayed today. The Geomagnetic Storm
After a weekend of quiet decay, sunspots 1271 and 1272 are growing again. Click on the image to view 24 hours of development:The increase in size has not yet translated into a significant increase in flares. Solar activity remains low, although this could change if
For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet. The movie, released today during a NASA press conference, has galvanized solar physicists, who say it could lead to important advances in space weather forecasting.
Yesterday, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory witnessed a spectacular explosion on the sun that seemed to pass perilously close to Venus.As the movie shows, the CME passed harmlessly. There was no collision, and it wasn’t even close. Although Venus seems to be
A big new sunspot is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb. AR1271 has at least four dark cores and it is crackling with small flares. The sunspot's entrance was captured in this 24-hour movie from the Solar Dynamics Observatory: NOAA forecasters…
After a few days of quiet, the sun is coming alive again. Amateur astronomers around the world report a beautiful complex of prominences dancing along the eastern limb, one of them big enough to swallow Earth:The blue dot is merely a digital image of Earth inserted
