I don't normally forward astronomy items. However, a number of members
have expressed interest in photographing auroral displays. This notice
predicts strong auroral activity over the weekend.
Hope this advance notice will help you prepare for the weekend!
Alexander Grigolia
A s t r o A l e r t
Sun-Earth Alert
Solar Terrestrial Dispatch
http://www.spacew.com
29 March 2001
MAJOR CLASS X1.7 SOLAR PROTON FLARE ALERT
Supporting imagery is available at:
http://www.spacew.com/astroalert.html
A major class X1.7/1N solar proton flare was observed erupting from the
mammoth naked-eye sunspot group identified as Region 9393 at 10:15 UTC (5:15
am EST) on 29 March. This event, although not tremendously large in spatial
size, was very bright in x-rays. Increasing energetic proton densities at
greater than 50 MeV (million electron volts) from the event began to be
observed shortly after 11:00 UTC (6:00 am EST). Protons are expected to
continue gradually increasing in density throughout the rest of the UTC day.
There is a risk of proton densities becoming strong enough to begin causing
minor satellite anomalies (single event upsets, phantom commands, etc).
A fairly well defined Earth-directed full halo coronal mass ejection was
observed emanating from the Sun, beginning near 10:26 UTC in SOHO spacecraft
imagery. An accurate time of impact of this disturbance is not yet available.
However, it is a reasonable estimate to assume that the disturbance will
impact the Earth on 31 March or perhaps 01 April.
The impact of this latest coronal mass ejection should come on the heels
of the anticipated impact of an earlier coronal mass ejection (currently
expected to impact on 30 March). This series of events is likely to result in
a prolonged period of enhanced auroral storm activity during the 30 March to
01 or 02 April time frame. Observers interested in watching for auroral
activity should keep a close eye on the sky and conditions during this time.
An addendum will likely be posted later today concerning this event.
However, for those who are interested in more real-time information, we
recommend you make use of one of the following resources for current
information:
http://www.spacew.com/aurora
or
http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html
or
#solar and/or #aurora channels on the
solar.spacew.com IRC Network on ports 6667-6669 or 7000
(details are available at: http://www.spacew.com/irc)
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