MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“There haven’t been any strong solar flares in days. Nevertheless, some impressive activity is underway on the sun. For one thing, an enormous wall of plasma is towering over the sun’s southeastern horizon. Stephen Ramsden of Atlanta, Georgia, took this picture on Nov. 11th:

‘Solar forums all over the world are buzzing with Sun-stronomers proclaiming this to be the biggest prominence that many of them had ever witnessed,’ he says.

Remarkably, though, this is not the biggest thing. A dark filament of magnetism is snaking more than halfway around the entire sun: SDO image. From end to end, it stretches more than a million km or about three times the distance between Earth and the Moon. If the filament becomes unstable, as solar filaments are prone to do, it could collapse and hit the stellar surface below, triggering a Hyder flare. No one can say if the eruption of such a sprawling structure would be Earth directed.

‘I cant help but wonder what could possibly come next since we are still over a year away from the forecasted Solar Maximum,’ adds Ramsden. ‘There’s never been a better time to own a solar telescope than now!'” Source – SpaceWeather.com.

“(TheWeatherSpace.com) – A M1-Class solar flare erupted from the Sun on Wednesday, producing what is called a full-halo CME blast.

A full-halo CME blast is when the blast is aimed nearly in the direction of the planet. There have been times where we get into the middle of the halo and get nothing but a minor geomagnetic storm, and TheWeatherSpace.com’s Kevin Martin has the answer.

‘During our weather on Earth, the center of the storm is usually the calmest, the eye,’ explained Martin. ‘CME blast’s sides are where the dense material is and affects us more. This blast was not directly at us, but the dense sides will hit us Friday or Saturday, making for a strong geomagnetic and aurora event.’

So if you live where the Northern Lights are seen, even on a rare basis, this could be the time to shine. TheWeatherSpace will inform you when it hits and you can go outside to see them.” Read more.

By Mike Wall – “An asteroid slightly bigger than a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will zoom by Earth inside the orbit of the moon Tuesday, Nov. 8, but it poses no danger of smashing into our planet, scientists say.

The asteroid 2005 YU55, which is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) across, will make its closest approach to Earth at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) today. At that point, the space rock will be traveling at about 29,000 mph and be about 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) from Earth — closer than the moon, which orbits 238,864 miles (384,499 km) from us on average.

The flyby will mark the closest such a big space rock has come to Earth since 1976. But there’s no need to scurry down to the basement bunker to await an asteroid impact, researchers say.

‘2005 YU55 cannot hit Earth, at least over the interval that we can compute the motion reliably, which extends for several hundred years,’ research scientist Lance Benner, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a recent NASA video.” Read more.

30-nation tsunami exercise a dry run for asteroid hitting earth? – “Doomsday conspiracy theorists are suggesting that the 30-nation (including the Philippines) tsunami exercise on November 9 is actually a preparation for a ‘deep impact’ scenario of an asteroid crashing into Earth. On video-sharing site YouTube, firehawk71 posted a video with a note that warned, ‘Asteroid YU55 close approach (closer than the moon) on November 8-9th!! Plus, Earth will be passing through debris from Comet Elenin’s tail around the same time. Are they prepping for something catastrophic?’ However, a scientist working with the United States of America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) earlier said: ‘There is no chance that this object will collide with the Earth or moon.'” Read more.

“An enormous solar flare that erupted from the sun on Thursday has been classed an X1.9 flare – making it one of the largest storms our star can produce.

The solar flare came from a giant sunspot that was sighted earlier this week, itself one of the largest seen in years.

Experts at Nasa knew to expect big things from the sunspot, but the sheer magnitude of the flare left them in awe.

The flare was so powerful that it disrupted communications systems on earth around 45 minutes later.

The event began at 8.27pm GMT, and Nasa officials said in a statement that it ‘triggered some disruption to radio communications on Earth’.

Nasa added: ‘Scientists are continuing to watch this active region as it could well produce additional solar activity as it passes across the front of the sun.’

Later on the same day, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed blasting from the sun in the direction of Venus.” Read more.

By Clara Moskowitz – “One of the largest sunspots in years has appeared on the sun, darkening part of its glowing face.

The massive sunspot, called AR1339, is about 50,000 miles long, and 25,000 miles wide, reports SpaceWeather.com. For comparison, Earth itself is only 8,000 miles wide.

The sunspot behemoth isn’t yet facing our planet, but was spotted Thursday, Nov. 3, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite. The spacecraft’s photos of the giant sunspot show the solar region as it comes into view on the northeastern edge, or limb, of the sun.

When it does turn our way in the days ahead, it should be an ‘easy target for backyard solar telescopes,’ according to SpaceWeather.com.

The sunspot is actually a group of nearby darkened spots on the sun, some of which are individually wider than planet Earth.

Sunspots appear when intense magnetic activity ramps up on the sun, blocking the flow of heat through the process of convection, which causes areas of the sun’s surface to cool down. These isolated areas then appear dimmer than the surrounding area, creating a dark spot.

The intense magnetic activity around sunspots can often cause solar flares, which are large releases of energy that can actually brighten up the sun. Flares are also accompanied by flows of charged particles out into space, called coronal mass ejections, which can wreak havoc on satellites and power grids on Earth if they head our way.

SpaceWeather.com warns that a huge sunspot like AR1339 comes with a large potential for solar flares. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts a 50 percent chance of medium-class M solar flares over the next 24 hours due to this sunspot.” Read more.

NASA detects X 2-class flare eruption on the Sun – “Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected an X2-class solar flare. The source is huge sunspot AR1339. If a CME occurred, chances are it is not earth-directed given the far eastern eruption site on the solar disk NOAA said. This turbulent region of the Sun will be facing Earth directly in about 5 days. A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy (about a sixth of the total energy output of the Sun each second). The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day or two after the event. The term is also used to refer to similar phenomena in other stars, where the term stellar flare applies.” Source.

“Mark Nov. 8 on your calendar. A huge asteroid that could potentially threaten Earth in the far future will pass close by as astronomers around the world watch and measure.

This space rock is asteroid 2005 YU55, a veritable mini-world roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters) wide — nearly four football fields across — that will zoom by Earth inside the orbit of the moon.

At its closest approach, the asteroid will pass within 201,700 miles (325,000 kilometers) of Earth at 6:28 p.m. EDT (2228 GMT) on Nov. 8. The average distance between Earth and the moon is 240,000 miles (386,242 km).

Asteroid 2005 YU55 is set to become the object du jour for ground observers. An extensive campaign of radar, visual and infrared observations is being staged to survey this cosmic interloper.

Due to its size and proximity, YU55 was classified as a ‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroid’ several years ago. Its upcoming flyby is another wake-up call — an express mail reminder that humanity resides on a sitting duck of a planet.

Asteroid 2005 YU55’s pass by Earth will be closest to date by an object this large that we know about in advance. A smaller asteroid, called 2011 CQ1, actually came closer to Earth without hitting – a record-setting approach to within 3,400 miles (5,471 kilometers) — but it was not seen in advance.” Read more.

Emergency Alert System Test November 9 – “On November 9 at approximately 2 p.m. WSET will participate in a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. It will be seen on broadcast, cable and satellite television and will be heard on all radio stations. This test will last for approximately three minutes and then return viewers and listeners to regularly scheduled programming. The national EAS is a public alert and warning system that enables the president of the United States to address the public during extreme emergencies.” Read more.

By Ian O’Neill – “The sun battered the Earth’s magnetosphere with an ‘epic’ geomagnetic storm over the last couple of days, generating beautiful auroral displays at low latitudes. Now it’s Mars’ turn.

On Saturday (Oct. 22), a large bubble of solar plasma was blasted from the sun’s surface. Unlike the coronal mass ejection (CME) that struck us on Monday, Saturday’s CME was sent in a different direction — toward the Red Planet.

As per simulations carried out by NASA’s Goddard Space Weather Laboratory (shown below), the CME should have arrived in Mars orbit by now (Oct. 26). However, its impact on Mars will be very different than a CME’s impact on Earth.

For starters, Mars doesn’t have a protective global magnetic field — instead it has a ‘patchy’ magnetic field distributed all over the planet. One of the many problems future Mars explorers will face is the increased radiation environment on the Martian surface — the lack of a protective magnetic “shield” and a thin atmosphere means CME impacts and solar flare events are a health risk.” Read more.

By Tariq Malik – “The wimpy comet Elenin, which vaulted into the public spotlight as a so-called harbinger of doom, has met its own demise, and its remains won’t be back for 12,000 years, NASA scientists say.

The comet made a swing through the inner solar system in recent months, coming closest to Earth on Oct. 16, but by that time all that was left were crumbs. The fate of comet Elenin, it seems, was sealed in September during its closest approach to the sun.

‘Elenin did as new comets passing close by the sun do about two percent of the time: It broke apart,’ said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement Monday (Oct. 25). ‘Elenin’s remnants will also act as other broken-up comets act. They will trail along in a debris cloud that will follow a well-understood path out of the inner solar system. After that, we won’t see the scraps of comet Elenin around these parts for almost 12 millennia.’

Yeomans called Elenin an ‘ex-comet,’ one that should soon be forgotten.” Read more.

By Tariq Malik – “A dazzling aurora light show amazed skywatchers across North America, from Canada to Arkansas, and other northern regions Monday night (Oct. 24), painting the sky with striking green and even rare red hues.

The aurora display, also known as the northern lights, was touched off by a wave charged particles unleashed by a massive sun storm on Saturday, which took two days to reach Earth, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Weather Service and NOAA.

‘These were the most vibrant I’ve ever seen,’ Canadian skywatcher Colin Chatfield of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan told SPACE.com in an email. ‘I was also able to see red with the naked eye, which I’ve never seen before either. Simply put, they were amazing.'” Read more.

Experts Call Attention to Possible Solar Katrina – “Picture the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Now imagine that simultaneously hitting 100 American cities. That’s the threat severe solar weather poses to the United States, according to Dr. Richard Andres, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU) Andres joined a diverse mix of scientists, engineers, and politicians on Capitol Hill on Thursday to warn the public that the United States is woefully unprepared for the possibility that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) triggered by a solar storm could knock down the national electrical grid with potentially catastrophic cascading effects.” Read more.

“Kent Fire and Rescue Service responded after a pilot was among several who reported what they thought was an aircraft crashing into the sea at Whitstable.

After fire-fighters from Whitstable and Herne Bay searched the area, no trace of the aircraft could be found.

Air traffic controllers told rescue crews they did not have any planes missing, so the search was called off and recorded as a meteorite falling to Earth.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘Two independent calls came in reporting a plane had crashed off the coast.

‘Even a pilot who was looking out of his window reported a plane was in distress and had gone into the sea.

‘Fishermen in the area also reported seeing something, but in the end nothing was found and it was put down to a meteorite falling to Earth.'” Read more.

By MARK DUNPHY – “The Orionid meteor shower will peak on Saturday morning, 22 October.

The Orionid meteors are made up of debris from a cloud of dust left behind by Halley’s Comet. As Earth passes through this cloud each year, some of the debris falls into Earth’s atmosphere where it heats up and glows brightly, forming the familiar meteors or ‘shooting stars’.

Forecasters expect more than 15 meteors per hour to fly across the sky on Saturday morning when the shower peaks.

The Orionids will appear to come from a source in the eastern sky beside a constellation called Orion, which can be found by looking for the well-known Orion’s Belt, a group of three bright stars in a line.

This year, the Moon and Mars are part of the show. They’ll form two vertices of a celestial triangle in the eastern sky on Saturday morning while the shower is most active; Regulus is the third vertex. Blue Regulus and red Mars are both approximately of 1st magnitude, so they are easy to see alongside the 35% crescent Moon. Many Orionids will be diving through the triangle in the hours before dawn.

‘We’re hoping for a great show for this year’s Orionid meteor shower tonight,’ said David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland. ‘The Moon doesn’t rise until long after midnight so with the darker skies we should be able to see more meteors than usual!'” Read more.