A rare severe geomagnetic storm watch is issued for the first time in nearly 20 years amid "unusual" solar event.
CBS News quotes the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): "Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations."
This looks quite 'interesting' for Friday/Saturday this weekend....
Might nip out to see any aurora, I won't go far just in case the car won't start afterwards 😂
Finally! A clear day for some solar imaging and what a view today! My phone has been buzzing all day as all of these spots are firing off solar flares.
A view of the #Sun today in hydrogen-alpha light under good seeing conditions. The combined complex of AR's 3664 and 3558 (below center) is a real monster with a complex 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field configuration. It has developed rapidly in the last 24 hours and is worth watching.
There was also a beautiful prominence on the Sun's southeast limb. Again, good seeing allowed for high magnification and the extraction of a lot of detail.
As the #sun doth sink 'tween tower and age-old walls,
The plaza basks in gentle, warm #orange embrace.
In tranquil eve, the #city waits, as #nightfall calls,
Preparing for nocturnal symphony to grace.
Happy #BlackHoleWeek to those who celebrate! Here's a pic I took a few years ago back when I worked at ESO's Paranal Observatory in #Chile. One of our 8.2 m telescopes was pointing at the centre of the #MilkyWay, home to Sagittarius A*, a #BlackHole 4 million times more massive than the #Sun.
Astronomers devoted almost a century to unmask this beast:
I may just admit to myself that I'm unlikely to really use some of the old #Sun#SPARC#Solaris kit like this Ultra-10 again. A lot of them have had the onboard (not trivial replaceable) battery due so they've lost the memory of what their MAC addresses were ...
You might be as surprised as I was when I heard that it really takes a #photon between 10,000 and 170,000 years from its origin in the core of the #sun to the surface of the sun.
"Theoretical models [...] indicate a maximum #power density [...] of approximately 276.5 watts per cubic metre [...] which is about the same power density inside a #compost pile." 😲