Surprise! Earth Day Aurora Storm

Source - Space Weather News for April 22, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

EARTH DAY AURORA STORM: Last night, Northern Lights descended into the United States as far south as Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington, kicking off an unexpected display of bright auroras for Earth Day. What happened?  A CME that was supposed to miss Earth apparently hit instead, surprising forecasters. Geomagnetic storms are still underway as April 22nd unfolds; high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for midnight auroras on April 22-23. Visit  Spaceweather.com for updates.

WEEKEND METEOR SHOWER: The auroras tonight may be spiced by an occasional flash of light.  Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Thatcher, source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Dark sky observers could see 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour shooting out of the constellation Lyra.  Sky maps and observing tips @ Spaceweather.com.

Daytime Meteor Shower in Progress

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 1, 2015: http://spaceweather.com

Dark Plasma Eruption: On Sept.30th, a massive plume of dark plasma erupted from sun's western limb.  A bright CME flew away from the blast site and might sideswipe Earth's magnetic field on Oct. 3rd.  Check http://spaceweather.com for geomagnetic storm and aurora forecasts.

Daytime Meteor Shower: As October begins, a radar in Canada is detecting echoes from a fairly strong meteor shower.  The source appears to be debris from asteroid 2005 UD.  Don't bother looking for these meteors because they are streaking across the daytime sky, overwhelmed by the glare of the sun.  You can, however, hear their radar echoes. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for live audio and more information.

X-flare and Martian Meteor Shower

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 7, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

MARTIAN METEOR SHOWER: NASA and European spacecraft have detected evidence of a "spectacular" meteor shower on Mars caused by the close approach of Comet Siding Spring last month.  If a human had been standing on the Red Planet at the time, they might have seen thousands of meteors per hour followed by a widespread yellow afterglow that lasted for days.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.

X-FLARE!  Active sunspot AR2205 produced a potent X1-class solar flare on Nov. 7th, causing a strong HF radio blackout on the dayside of our planet. More X-flares are in the offing as the sunspot turns toward Earth this weekend.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates.

Meteor Activity Intensifies

Source - Space Weather News for August 4, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

METEOR ACTIVITY: Meteor activity is increasing as Earth plunges deeper into the debris stream of Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Last night alone, NASA cameras recorded more than a dozen Perseid fireballs along with one sporadic bolide (exploding meteor) that might have dropped pieces of itself over the southeastern USA.  

Visit http://spaceweather.com for video and observing tips.

CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR2130 is directly facing Earth and it has a complex 'delta-class' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong flares.  X-flare alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Meteor Outburst Possible Tonight

Source - Space Weather News for May 23, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

METEOR ALERT:  This weekend, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR. If forecasters are correct, the encounter could produce an outburst of bright meteors numbering more than 200 per hour.  Most models agree that peak rates should occur between the hours of 0600 UT and 0800 UT (2 a.m. and 4 a.m. EDT) on Saturday morning, May 24th, a time frame that favors observers in North America.  It is worth noting, however, that Earth has never encountered this stream of debris before, so forecasters cannot be certain of their predictions.  The display could be a complete dud, a fantastic "meteor storm," or anything in between. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.

A New Meteor Shower in May?

Source - NASA Science News for May 6, 2014

Sky watchers in North America could witness a new meteor shower on May 24th when, for the first time, Earth passes through a cloud of dust from periodic comet 209P/LINEAR.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/06may_newshower/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw3hVTUQ43U



License: Standard YouTube License

Possible Meteor Shower on June 11

Source - Space Weather News for June 10, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

METEOR SHOWER: Sky watchers in North America might see an outburst of meteors during the early hours of June 11th when Earth passes through a stream of cometary debris last seen in 1930. Forecasters predict the return of the gamma Delphinid meteor shower this Tuesday morning around 08:30 UT (04:30 am EDT). The shower is expected to last about 30 minutes with an unknown number of bright, fast meteors.  

Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

Comet ISON Meteor Shower

Source - NASA Science News for April 19, 2013

A new model of the debris flowing from Comet ISON suggests that the sungrazer could dust the Earth with meteoroids in early 2014. Forecasters discuss the possibilities today's story from Science@NASA.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/19apr_isonids/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eSYxvUWwVk



License: Standard YouTube License

Draconid Meteor Outburst Underway

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 8, 2012: http://spaceweather.com

METEOR OUTBURST: Radars in Canada are reporting a major outburst of Draconid meteors commencing at 16 UT on Oct. 8th. "Radar rates are at 1000 meteors per hour," says Bill Cooke of NASA' Meteoroid Environment Office. "This is greater than last year's outburst, and 5x the 2005 level."

Cooke encourages northern sky watchers, especially in Europe where night is falling, to be alert for Draconid activity.  Because radars are sensitive to very small meteoroids, there is no guarantee that this radar outburst will translate into meteors visible to the human eye.  On the other hand, a brilliant display could be in progress.  The only way to know is to go outside and look.  Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

Don't just watch meteors, wear them.  Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store:  http://www.shopspaceweather.com

Draconid Meteor Shower

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 7, 2011: http://spaceweather.com

DRACONID METEOR SHOWER: On Saturday, October 8th, Earth will pass through a network of dusty filaments shed by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. Forecasters expect the encounter to produce anywhere from a few dozen to a thousand meteors per hour visible mainly over Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. The meteors will stream from the northern constellation Draco--hence their name, the "Draconids." Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage of the event including observing times and a live audio stream from a meteor radar.

Meteors From Halley's Comet

Source - NASA Science News for April 27, 2011

Mark your calendar. On May 6th, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from Halley's comet, producing a mild but beautiful meteor shower known as the "eta Aquarids."

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/27apr_eta/

Scientists Watch for a "Hartley-id" Meteor Shower

Source - NASA Science News for Oct. 27, 2010

A pair of unusual fireballs over Canada and the southeastern USA have experts wondering if Comet Hartley 2 might produce a meteor shower in early November.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/27oct_hartleyids/

Solar Activity and the Southern Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower

Source - Space Weather News for July 28, 2010: http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR ACTIVITY PICKS UP: Earlier today, magnetic fields looping over the sun's southeastern limb became unstable and erupted. The blast produced a bright, towering prominence that attracted the attention of amateur astronomers around the world. Meanwhile, on the sun's northeastern limb, a big new sunspot is emerging and it is crackling with C-class solar flares. Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and movies.

METEOR SHOWER: The University of Western Ontario meteor radar is picking up strong returns from the Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower, which peaks on July 28th. Sky watchers (particularly in the southern hemisphere) should be alert for meteors between about 10 pm and dawn. "Visual rates could be as high as 20 per hour," notes Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, "although glare from the nearly full Moon will make many of the fainter meteors difficult to see."

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS: Did you miss the last big solar flare or geomagnetic storm? Don't let that happen again. Turn your cell phone into a full-featured space weather alert system: http://spaceweatherphone.com