I’m just full of good news today. NOT.
Just a heads up on the Solar front. There was a C-7 solar flare (coronal mass ejection or CME) released at earth within the last 24 hours. Not normally a problem, but this one will be backed up by a strong coronal hole stream - a 1-2 punch, so to speak.
This is NOT an “End Scenario”. However, if the CME has a south-pointing magnet angle, there will be strong meteorological effects; increases in electrical fires, and large system glitches like airline reservation systems, play station network, communications and rail networks possibly being impacted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihNPcRxqlAA (approximately 3 minutes of news)
Also, just to add some more fun, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has returned to earth from the Ryugu asteroid, with rock samples. Hope they know what they are doing.
“EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE AND CME (UPDATED): Sunspot AR2790 is more potent than it looks. Yesterday (Dec. 7th @ 1632 UT), the relatively small spot unleashed a C7-class solar flare and hurled a CME toward Earth. Extreme ultraviolet cameras onboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the explosion:
A pulse of X-rays from the flare ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a minor shortwave radio blackout over South America (map). Affected frequencies were mainly below 10 MHz. Ironically, the flare itself was a source of strong radio emissions. Ham radio operators may have heard a ‘roar’ of solar static during the blackout.
UPDATE: The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) show a halo CME leaving the sun a few hours after the flare:
NOAA analysts have modeled the storm cloud; their results confirm that it will likely reach Earth during the second half of Dec. 9th. En route to our planet, the CME will scoop up some slower-moving material from an unrelated solar wind stream. The combined impact could spark geomagnetic storms as strong as category G3, although lesser G1- to G2-class storms are more likely.
This is NOT a major space weather event. But after 3 years of uber-quiet Solar Minimum, it is noteworthy. If a strong geomagnetic storm materializes, auroras could be sighted in northern-tier US states from Maine to Montana to Washington. Stay tuned! Aurora alerts: SMS Text. “
Also, just to add some more fun, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has returned to earth from the Ryugu asteroid, with rock samples. Hope they know what they are doing.
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Don’t be surprised if CovidISM is replaced with RyuguISM from some weird unheard of microscopic disease.