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waterboy 2.0

aurora australis alert

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for the southern folks since the sun has just thrown a huge flare (at the turn of solar maximum) it is highly likely that there will be some sky action :wink:

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Anyone know where in australia it will be visible from? Got some nice rocks to sit on and have a look :)

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can't predict the northern extent of aurora...Perth gets a showing occasionally and there were reports from Sydney at the last solar maximum.

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wow I didn't think that got so far north.....(except when really extreme)......so in theory some of the south Is should get a show........................

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nice post waterboy, hope you get to see it

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Cant see anything in Perth atm. Do i need a long exposure camera?? Also some "k" reading is supposed to be about 7 to be viewable in Perth. Is it at that level? Albany WA would be one of the best places to view it in Australia

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Well I'm about as far south as you can be in W.A. and have a fairly decent view

I can't see anything at the moment the moons fairly bright out there at the moment

the sky's lookin pretty clear for know wich is good definitely gonna keep my eye on the sky tonight though

hopefully I get a glimpse of it from what ive read in the past it's a pretty rare thing to see the southern lights :)

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I couldn't see much last night due to cloud coverage... And I'm far south WA also. Any chances maybe tonight? I didnt manage to stay up past 10pm tho. Would love to view it!

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no show last night....optimistic tonight as I am finding an issue at times using CB radios....

Haven't seen one this spring/summer yet, there were quite few last year... and having no light pollution helps

edit- also looking into K index thing now BT :wink:....C'mon geomagnetic storm..lol

The K-index quantifies disturbances in the horizontal component of earth's magnetic field with an integer in the range 0-9 with 1 being calm and 5 or more indicating a geomagnetic storm.

from Wiki

Edited by waterboy
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The Sun's Magnetic Field is about to Flip
December 6, 2013

(Editor's Note: This story was originally issued August 2013.)

Something big is about to happen on the sun. According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun's vast magnetic field is about to flip.

"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."

The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of "solar max" will be behind us, with half yet to come.

Hoeksema is the director of Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory, one of the few observatories in the world that monitors the sun's polar magnetic fields. The poles are a herald of change. Just as Earth scientists watch our planet's polar regions for signs of climate change, solar physicists do the same thing for the sun. Magnetograms at Wilcox have been tracking the sun's polar magnetism since 1976, and they have recorded three grand reversals—with a fourth in the offing.

Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle."

A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the "heliosphere") extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.

When solar physicists talk about solar field reversals, their conversation often centers on the "current sheet." The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun's equator where the sun's slowly rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current. The current itself is small, only one ten-billionth of an amp per square meter (0.0000000001 amps/m2), but there’s a lot of it: the amperage flows through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide. Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.

During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy. Scherrer likens the undulations to the seams on a baseball. As Earth orbits the sun, we dip in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around our planet.

Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy. Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth. The current sheet acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.

As the field reversal approaches, data from Wilcox show that the sun's two hemispheres are out of synch.

"The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up," Scherrer said. "Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway."

When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.

http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-suns-magnetic-field-is-about-to-flip/

Hitting the maximum and doing a pole backflip whilst throwing flares is what has me interested in what we may see in the coming months.

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Hey WB, I use CB radio also,, what are you hearing?

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Thanks WB, you're the bestest! :)

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I saw aurora australis down at Stewart island once. That was pretty epic. Not sure if my home town is very well situated for viewing, but it's worth having my evening cuppa outdoors for a while just to tempt fate.

What I have seen in person and what i have seen in photographs always seem to be green light, is that the only colour we can get in the Southern Hemisphere?

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We've had several coronal mass ejections in this cycle of solar max. They have the potential to take out large parts of our electricity grids and interrupt telecommunications. The earth has had several large events in the past where they caused profound effects, with our modern hi tech lifestyles we are much more vulnerable now than ever.

It would be awesome to see though.

Edited by Sally

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@ upside I am getting a lot of "skip" (charged ionosphere bouncing signals)particularly southern US/mexico comes in waves faint mostly, but had a few chats with some US folk.

@ceres I see green from the homerange, but down south coming off Mount Wellington (Hobart) I have seen the red and green colours once.

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Cool stuff WB,, I only have a 5w radio in my car with a little antenna on the bar. I hear the US sometimes, not enough power to talk to them tho. Would their skip be a factor in seeing the aurora when those locations are heard do you think?

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yep upside, the more excited the upper atmosphere the better the signals bounce between it and the oceans....have spoken to people all over the place when conditions are good. Use to shoot a lot of skip when I had time....http://cbradiomagazine.com/Articles/How%20to%20Shoot%20Skip.htm

Nice link BT...bookmarked

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This is a pic of the aurora from the Perth hills in 2003. Photo by Roger groom

post-4590-0-42315300-1389354207_thumb.jp

post-4590-0-69513500-1389354336_thumb.jp

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post-4590-0-69513500-1389354336_thumb.jpg

post-4590-0-42315300-1389354207_thumb.jpg

post-4590-0-69513500-1389354336_thumb.jpg

Edited by Bush Turkey
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i think i would have had one of the best viewing points but the weather went to shit and got all cloudy i didn't see a thing

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