G3 Solar Storm

Thanks to VerucaDave (and goatbert) for passing on this NOAA advisory. Seems that the people of Earth are experiencing the effects of a little solar action. And kevlar wrote with the news "There are sightings, as we speak of the Aurora Borealis, as far south as Washington DC. ... This is a rare anomaly to be seen so far south. To see it, look north right now (best time is around/after midnight). See if you can spy some fast moving particles! If your latitude is anywhere north of DC, then you should see something with a little effort!" So if you are anywhere on Earth where it still matters, run -- do not walk -- to the nearest spot from which you can scan the sky. May you have clear skies and no light-polluting neighbors. [Updated 14:40GMT by timothy.]

On a related note, periscope sent in some information about some new satellites that are going up to study this summer's expected solar storms. They're also looking for names for the satellites: here's your chance to put your name in the sky, so to speak. I vote for Andre, Libe, Setsuko and Golfball.

If you can't see it...

If you are interrested in this or you can't see it, this site [mtu.edu] has everything you could ever want to see or know about the Northern Lights.

Re:American Biggotry

Um, friend, slow down.

The VAST bulk of the United States will not be able to see the northern lights, ever, and anyone with a whit of geography under their belt will know that.

It's pretty clear to me that the 'where it still matters' refers to people waking up and seeing this story while it's still dark in the Deep North or Deep South where this might have a chance of being visible. It has nothing to do with the relative worth of non-United-States nations, and I really can't see how it could be mistaken as such.

To misuse the metaphor, though, when all you have is an axe to grind, everything starts looking like a tree.

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Interesting side effects?

We've all heard about how solar flares can potentially kill electrical systems and such down here on earth, disrupt communications, even make our electricity go out... I just thought I'd report some funky occurances tonight..

• my cell phone locked up on me.. three times
  
• my atomic alarm clock can't get a signal; It's currently madly flashing at me in dispair.
  

Anyone else notice any odd occurances with your electronic gadgets?

Online Solar Activity Monitor

For those who are interested, a current solar activity (X-ray flare and geomagnetic storm) monitor is available at Majestic Research [maj.com], which also has html for adding the monitor to your own website as well.