From Spaceweather.com
POSSIBLE EARTH-DIRECTED CME: Yesterday’s X1-class solar flare attracted all the attention, but it did not produce a CME. Another explosion did. Five hours before the X-flare, a filament of magnetism erupted from the sun’s northern hemisphere and hurled a CME into space: movie. Most of the CME will pass north of Earth, but not all. A glancing blow is likely on Feb. 14th. Arctic sky watchers could get a light show for Valentine’s Day. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT (UPDATED): Yesterday, Feb. 11th @ 1548 UTC, Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1-class solar flare from sunspot AR3217. Extreme UV radiation ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a strong shortwave radio blackout over South America: Ham radio operators, aviators, and mariners may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare. This was an impulsive flare, intense and fast. It did not last long enough to lift a CME out of the sun’s atmosphere
JUPITER AND VENUS ARE CONVERGING: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Venus and Jupiter are shining brightly in the twilight sky, converging for a close encounter only 2 weeks from now.
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The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Fr. Z, Have you frequently made these kinds of cosmic observations? Or is it a recent interest?
[Rather often.]