Double CME Hits Earth, Sparks Auroras

		Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012
	What's up in space

Thirty-five new items have just been added to our Meteorite Jewelry collection. Browse the Space Weather Store for something out of this world.   GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT: A geomagnetic storm is in progress in the wake of a double CME impact on June 16th. The hit, which strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field, lit up both poles with bright auroras. Stephen Voss sends this photo from Southland, New Zealand: "We enjoyed a beautiful display of the Southern Lights from the south of New Zealand," says Voss. "A dull arc hung around for a couple of hours before suddenly exploding with a mixture of rays and curtains." Meanwhile, in the Americas, Northern Lights descended as far south as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Washington and the Dakotas. Solar wind conditions in the wake of the CME favor continued disturbances. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of more high-latitude geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours. Aurora alerts: text, voice. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1504 has a complex 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong solar flares--and the huge sunspot is almost directly facing Earth. Amateur astronomer Eric von der Heyden photographed the behemoth on June 16th from his backyard observatory in Mühltal-Traisa, Germany: Each of the dark cores in the image is about twice the size of Earth. The sheer size of the complex makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares from AR1504 during the next 24 hours. X-flare alerts: text, voice. Readers, please scan the Realtime Photo Gallery for constantly updated images of this sunspot plus a huge prominence which has popped up on the sun's western limb.