Eyeballs up tonight folks....

[Watchful]

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/

Scary stuff.

The sun experienced a coronal mass ejection, which is not technically a solar flare, although they can be related.

Basically, a chunk of the sun lifts off and flies into space. They happen fairly often and are normal. However, every so often, that mass of plasma hits the earth--which just happens to be in the way at the time.

The earth's magnetic field bends the plasma around the earth, so that the plasma really doesn't reach us. On the one hand, you get cool aurorae all over the place; on the other, cell phones, GPS, and other satellite-driven systems go from glitchy to a potential shutdown.

You have already been through many of them in your life.

 

[Bufford]

It was very bright to the north last night. The glow was steady and colorless, but nothing spectacular yet. Perhaps it will ramp up abit tonite.

 

[PayetteRucker]

Well, after spending 14 hours cranking out school prep errands yesterday (man, college is ALREADY a full time job and it hasn't even started yet) I hopped on the GT Avelanche I picked up on Craigslist for 50 bucks and granny geared my way up through the foothills to the summit of the mountain behind my place. Camped out along the stream. Basically pulled an all nighter, fed the fire, ate good food and watched the sky. I brought the MP3 player loaded with Korpiklaani's instrumental stuff, some black licorice and a gatorade bottle full of racked meade just in case. The moon was a sliver and didn't come up til about 3 in the morning, so I had a SPECTACULAR view of the milky way. Stopped counting after the 60th meteorite. I didn't see any crazy light shows but boy was the trip worth it. Just a nice relaxing overnighter. It was one of those nights where everything went my way-fire started on the first dose of sparks from the fire rod, my Condor khukri sailed through dead sagebrush as if it were air, I didn't even unroll the sleeping bag the weather was so nice (about 80 degrees with a slight cool breeze). Got some coyote visitors, they circled me just outside the visual range of the fire but left me alone. It was pretty cool-I got some video. Got about 3 hours of sleep, but man... I haven't been so well rested after a sleep like that in a VERY long time. Made some coffee in the morning, hopped on the Avalanche and bombed the mountain singletrack at 30mph (GREAT way to wake up ) and pulled up in front of my house at 6:15AM. Nice being able to access that stuff right from my house, I gotta do more of these last minute overnighters.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The aurora didn't show but it still paid off!

[youtube]x9CEl0sfW7I[/youtube]​

 

[sodak]

The sun experienced a coronal mass ejection, which is not technically a solar flare, although they can be related.

Large solar flares can (and often do) cause CME's.

Basically, a chunk of the sun lifts off and flies into space. They happen fairly often and are normal. However, every so often, that mass of plasma hits the earth--which just happens to be in the way at the time.

The earth's magnetic field bends the plasma around the earth, so that the plasma really doesn't reach us. On the one hand, you get cool aurorae all over the place; on the other, cell phones, GPS, and other satellite-driven systems go from glitchy to a potential shutdown.

The plasma doesn't reach us, but the effects can be quite significant. Not just recorded in the Carrington event, but in Quebec and many other places as well.

You have already been through many of them in your life.

Of course, as I mentioned above. If one of significant magnitude hits, it will be quite a memorable experience, not just pretty auroras to look at.

 

[zippin44]

Lucky Bastid! All we have right now in NJ is jungle weather and Mosquitoes.

Well, after spending 14 hours cranking out school prep errands yesterday (man, college is ALREADY a full time job and it hasn't even started yet) I hopped on the GT Avelanche I picked up on Craigslist for 50 bucks and granny geared my way up through the foothills to the summit of the mountain behind my place. Camped out along the stream. Basically pulled an all nighter, fed the fire, ate good food and watched the sky. I brought the MP3 player loaded with Korpiklaani's instrumental stuff, some black licorice and a gatorade bottle full of racked meade just in case. The moon was a sliver and didn't come up til about 3 in the morning, so I had a SPECTACULAR view of the milky way. Stopped counting after the 60th meteorite. I didn't see any crazy light shows but boy was the trip worth it. Just a nice relaxing overnighter. It was one of those nights where everything went my way-fire started on the first dose of sparks from the fire rod, my Condor khukri sailed through dead sagebrush as if it were air, I didn't even unroll the sleeping bag the weather was so nice (about 80 degrees with a slight cool breeze). Got some coyote visitors, they circled me just outside the visual range of the fire but left me alone. It was pretty cool-I got some video. Got about 3 hours of sleep, but man... I haven't been so well rested after a sleep like that in a VERY long time. Made some coffee in the morning, hopped on the Avalanche and bombed the mountain singletrack at 30mph (GREAT way to wake up ) and pulled up in front of my house at 6:15AM. Nice being able to access that stuff right from my house, I gotta do more of these last minute overnighters.

 

[Troop]

Lucky Bastid! All we have right now in NJ is jungle weather and Mosquitoes.

Ain't that the truth! Tropical rain-forest weather. Very weird; it's never been like this before.

 

[PayetteRucker]

Ain't that the truth! Tropical rain-forest weather. Very weird; it's never been like this before.

It was a weird El Nino winter that's for sure, we got lower water content in the winter and it was comparatively warm. Spring was cold and constantly rainy which is unheard of in the high desert, and summer has been mild and rainy as well. I hope we get BOMBED with snow this winter. I spent last winter building a log cabin in the Payette River Mountains, sitting in hot springs, cross country skiing and snowmobiling after work, spent the Winter Olympics snowed in watching the games over cases of Alaskan Amber. A repeat would sure be nice
Anyone see any cool stuff last night? I went to bed early-I've got a big weekend coming up, spending 3 days on the Payette River camping at some hot springs.