Sunspot group 1520 is still ripe for more flares. It’s joined here by an entourage of additional groups. Photo taken at 8 a.m. (CDT) today July 13 by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA
Aurora watchers get ready. Yesterday’s X1.4 class flare from big sunspot group 1520 unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) directly toward the Earth. This powerful enhancement in the solar wind will arrive sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning bringing with it a good possibility for auroras through Sunday.
A series of short time lapse videos of yesterday’s X1.4 flare in sunspot region 1520 taken in different colors or wavelengths of light.
Sunspot region 1520 isn’t done yet. Space weather forecasters give it a moderate chance of producing more X-class flares through the 15th. Sunspots are regions on the sun’s surface where magnetic energy is highly concentrated. Flares occur when magnetic fields of opposite directions come into close contact within a sunspot group, interact with each other and release that energy explosively.
Yesterday’s flare shortly before it popped off (left) and during the explosion (right) seen in far ultraviolet light. Credit: NASA
Light the fuse on 160 billion tons of TNT and you’ve got the equivalent of a solar flare. Flares heat the surrounding gases to 18 million degrees and eject matter into space as CMEs at speeds over 600 miles per second. Wicked!
Tomorrow morning (July 14) and Sunday morning, watch for beautiful pairings of the moon and planets Jupiter and Venus. Created with Stellarium
The weekend’s shaping up to be a not-to-miss potpourri of celestial enjoyments. Tomorrow morning the moon moves closer to the sky’s current brightest planets Jupiter and Venus in the company of the sky’s two brightest star clusters – the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) and Hyades. Watch for them in the east starting around 3:30 a.m. as morning twilight is just beginning. They’ll be higher and easier to see an hour later, but the brightening sky may may require binoculars to see the clusters.
The BIG EVENT happens the next morning on Sunday the 15th, when the moon will be in conjunction and near both planets at dawn. Should be a wonderful sight. Get your cameras ready for both the conjunction and northern lights.
Wonderful!! I just coordinated this with a friend. We’re going to drive up to Silver Bay where I camped last weekend so that we can camp and hopefully have a good view all night and into dawn. Looking forward to finally being in your neck of the woods for all of this. Hopefully clear skies.
Hey Roma – good luck! Weather is expected to be partly cloudy tonight but clear tomorrow night.
Hi Bob, I saw this about 4:45 a.m. this morning and had to get outside for a more unobstructed view. It was such a beautiful sky! I had to come in and look up your website to read about what I was seeing as I knew you would have something posted. I did see some of the Hyades cluster, but failed to look above the moon for Pleiades, darn. I will be looking again tomorrow morning. Thanks for all the info – Kylene
Hi Kylene,
You were so mesmerized by all the bright stuff! I got up this morning and it was cloudy. Tomorrow morning looks perfect here. I hope it remains clear by you.
Hello,
We are heading north in hope to see the northern lights tonight. Could you recommend a spot Duluth or north of Duluth?
If you don’t mind me asking, where do you plan to catch the lights?
regards,
Satya
Hi Satya,
I’ll probably watch from home and then drive up Jean Duluth Road until I find a good open view to the north. The easiest, nicest place in/near Duluth with a decent view to the north and dark skies is Brighton Beach (Kitchi Gammi Park) just north of town off Hwy. 61. It’s just a few blocks past the Lester River bridge.