Since Sunday a series of Earth-directed CME’s have created Aurora Borealis visible as far South in these USA as, I hear, Arkansas! I know I will go out to look.
Tonight, get out there if you have good viewing conditions, and look for the “Northern Lights“. They are events of terrible beauty, presaging we know not what.
One of these days, friends, there will be a huge coronal mass ejection from your planet’s yellow star that strikes your planet square on. The result could be a vast electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which fries almost all your electronic stuff.
You will be plunged in an instant back to something like the 19th century.
Millions would die in these USA. Will you have what it takes to survive?
On the other hand, there could be nuclear attacks that cause EMPs, or perhaps there will be a pandemic or other natural events which brings down the world’s economy, resulting in much the same chaos.
I remind you to reflect on what could happen to us if there were another Carrington Event.
This last Coronal Mass Ejection was Earth-directed. If it were larger… we could be in deep problems RIGHT NOW.
And… GO TO CONFESSION!
From SpaceWeather:
SOLSTICE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A series of CMEs hit Earth’s magnetic field on June 22nd, producing a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into more than a dozen US states, including places as far south as Colorado, Georgia, Virginia and Arkansas. “The auroras did not disappoint,” says Chris Cook, who witnessed the display from Cape Cod, Massachusetts
“They were visible in deep twilight!” he adds. “I positioned myself on a beach overlooking Cape Cod Bay so I could capture the reflection in the water at low tide.”
More auroras are in the offing as Earth’s magnetic field reverberates from the CME strikes. NOAA forecasters estimate a 90% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on June 23rd, subsiding only a little to 70% on June 24th.
MEANWHILE … ANOTHER CME IS ON THE WAY: Big sunspot AR2371 erupted again on June 22nd (18:23 UT), producing a strong M6.5 class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:
X-ray and UV radiation from the flare ionized the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a blackout of some shortwave radio signals over North America (blackout map). Mariners and ham radio operators, in particular, may have noticed disturbances at frequencies below ~20 MHz.
The explosion also hurled a full-halo CME directly toward Earth: movie. NOAA analysts are still modeling the storm cloud to estimate its likely time of arrival. Best guess: June 24th. Sky watchers should prepare for more geomagnetic storms and auroras on Wednesday night.
Perhaps, since I am getting into Ham Radio now, tonight I’ll watch that movie with Jim Caviezel… and I shift some ammo cans from storage!
Click!
Tomorrow, 26 June, His Excellency Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, will ordain 6 men to the holy priesthood.
