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Weather forecasting and analysis, space and historic events, climate information
Filtering by Category: Space Weather
The seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, will actually reach its closest point of the year tonight in its orbit to Earth as it “reaches opposition” (i.e., directly opposite the sun). As a result, the icy planet will be visible as a blue-green dot tonight through binoculars and perhaps even with the naked eye if you’re in a dark location.
Read MoreThe sun has been relatively quiet in recent years and the current solar cycle (#24) is actually on pace to be the weakest in over one hundred years. Even weak solar cycles, however, can produce significant solar storms. In fact, it was this time of year back in 1859 when a super solar storm - now known as the Carrington Event - took place during another weak solar cycle (#10). The event has been named for the British astronomer, Richard Carrington, as he observed from his own private observatory the largest solar flare during this event which caused a major coronal mass ejection (CME) to travel directly toward Earth. Fortunately, solar storms of this magnitude are quite rare as it would very likely have a much more damaging impact on today’s world than it did in the 19th century.
Read MoreOn August 21st, the US will experience its first “coast-to-coast” total solar eclipse since 1918. On that day, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth and the result will be a 67-mile wide shadow that will cross the country from Oregon to South Carolina. In the DC, Philly and New York City metro regions, this eclipse will be partial with anywhere from about 81% of the sun being covered by the moon in DC to about 72% in New York City. In the "totality zone" where the sun will become covered in its entirety(and of course depending on the local cloud conditions), the sky gets deep twilight blue, temperatures drop noticeably, the winds should die down, bright stars and planets come out, animals and birds may behave strangely like it’s the end of the day, and it can become strangely silent. A total solar eclipse provides a great opportunity for scientists to learn more about the sun's atmosphere as well as our own.
Read MoreThe “Great American” solar eclipse that is coming on August 21st is not the only space event of interest during the month of August. The annual Perseid meteor shower has actually already begun and it will peak on Saturday, August 12th. The Perseid meteor shower comes every August as the Earth passes through a cloud of dust that comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle as it approaches the sun.
Read MoreThe total solar eclipse that takes place on August 21st across parts of the US will provide an opportunity for solar scientists to learn more about the sun’s atmosphere including its outermost layer called the corona. In addition, if there is activity on the sun during the upcoming total solar eclipse such as solar prominences or coronal mass ejections, this will provide an opportunity for first-hand observations by solar scientists. Atmospheric scientists and meteorologists will take this opportunity to closely monitor local weather conditions in the totality zone including such parameters as air temperature and surface winds – both of which typically drop off noticeably during the short totality time period. In addition, during a total solar eclipse, the Earth’s upper atmospheric region known as the ionosphere behaves as if it is nighttime and this event will provide an opportunity for atmospheric scientists and meteorologists (and radio enthusiasts) to learn more about the ionization which is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons.
Read MoreInteresting facts about the sun and solar eclipses.
Read MoreThere is now just a little over a month to go to the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the US since 1918. On August 21st, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth and the result will be a 67-mile wide shadow that will cross the country from Oregon to South Carolina. During a total solar eclipse (and of course depending on the local weather conditions), the sky gets deep twilight blue, temperatures drop noticeably, the winds should die down, bright stars and planets come out, animals and birds may behave strangely like it’s the end of the day, and it can become strangely silent. A total solar eclipse provides a great opportunity for scientists to learn more about the sun's atmosphere as well as our own.
Read MoreThe sun has generally been quiet in recent days as it heads rapidly towards the next solar minimum. In fact, there have already been 44 spotless days this year which makes up 23% of the time and this easily surpasses the 32 days experienced in 2016. The current solar cycle (#24) has turned out to be historically weak with the lowest number of sunspots since cycle 14 peaked more than a century ago in 1906. However, even during weak cycles and overall quiet periods on the sun, there can be sporadic large sunspot regions and strong solar storms. Indeed, there is now a very large sunspot region on the sun – the largest of the year – and it has erupted today generating a coronal mass ejection that could impact the Earth’s atmosphere by Sunday.
Read MoreThe sun has generally been quiet in recent days as it heads rapidly towards the next solar minimum. In fact, there have been 44 spotless days this year which makes up 23% of the time and this already easily surpasses the 32 days experienced in 2016. The current solar cycle (24) has turned out to be historically weak with the lowest number of sunspots since cycle 14 peaked more than a century ago in 1906. However, even during weak cycles and overall quiet periods on the sun there can be sporadic strong storms and large sunspot regions. Indeed, there is now a very large sunspot region – the largest of the year so far – and it is currently directly facing the Earth.
Read MoreThe sun is currently featuring one lonely visible sunspot region and this relatively blank look is becoming more and more common as solar cycle 24 heads towards the next solar minimum. In fact, there have been 42 days in 2017 with a completely blank sun – already ten more days than all of last year – and this makes up almost one-quarter of the time for this year. Solar cycle 24 has turned out to be historically weak with the lowest number of sunspots since cycle 14 peaked more than a century ago in 1906. In fact, by one measure, the current solar cycle is the third weakest since record keeping began in 1755 and it continues a weakening trend since solar cycle 21 peaked in 1980. One of the natural impacts of decreasing solar activity is the increase of cosmic rays that can penetrate into the Earth’s upper atmosphere and this can have many important consequences.
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