[LeArc] [Fwd: AstroAlert: Impact of Coronal Mass Ejection -
AuroraWarning]
Jay Hainline
[email protected]
Wed, 27 Nov 2002 11:53:53 +0000
Hi Dave. The alert is issued when there is a possibility of an aurora also
known as "northern lights". It is more of a concern for satellite users as it
can affect the electronics on board as well as electric utility companies
especially up in Canada. For the rest of us, it can certainly have an affect on
radio propagation. Usually degraded conditions on the hf bands, sometimes
shutting down completely. However it often has an enhanced affect on
propagation in the vhf/uhf bands where you can make contacts by bouncing a
signal off the aurora curtain as well as some enhancement to southern paths of
propagation on 6 meters.
Back in Sept. 1999, after a coronal mass ejection impacted the earth, we had a
major aurora event with propagation up to 432 MHz. After the aurora propagation
died out, 6 meters then open up to Australia where I worked several stations in
VK4 land for about a half hour.
Coronal mass ejections are usually caused by a major flare event on the sun.
Basically the sun will eject a burst of energy in the form of the solar wind.
Depending where the flare occurred, this burst of energy sometimes heads toward
earth, thus the warning. CME's often are what causes auroras here on earth.
A good site to monitor what is going on in space and our sun is
http://www.spaceweather.com
73 Jay
Dave Nissen wrote:
>
> See http://www.qsl.net/learc/ for club information.
>
> Annual Christmas meeting December 10, 2002. Bring your appetite and a dish to pass.
>
> Please join us on Sunday Evenings for the
> Lamoine Emergency ARC Sunday Evening Net.
> Net time is 8:00 PM local time.
>
> Hi Jay..
>
> Interesting message that you posted. As I am ignorant of the subject, I
> wondered if you could explain a few things for me and the others that might
> not have understood the content of your message.
>
> I read that this is a aurora warning, and that there is coronal mass
> ejections that are predicted to happen. Any time I see the word "warning" I
> am concerned. I checked my homeowners insurance and they don't speak of
> "aurora" or "coronal mass ejections". I can only assume that this upcoming
> event has something to do with armature radio. Are we about to see an
> increase in band openings or quite the opposite? Is this something like the
> Northern Lights?? They sure are pretty to watch..
>
> Thanks for the post, and the time to inform and educate me..
>
> 73
> Dave de W9COP
>
> Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend,
> Inside a dog it is too dark to read.
>
> Groucho Marx
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jay Hainline" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 7:11 PM
> Subject: [LeArc] [Fwd: AstroAlert: Impact of Coronal Mass Ejection - Aurora
> Warning]
>
> > See http://www.qsl.net/learc/ for club information.
> >
> > Annual Christmas meeting December 10, 2002. Bring your appetite and a
> dish to pass.
> >
> > Please join us on Sunday Evenings for the
> > Lamoine Emergency ARC Sunday Evening Net.
> > Net time is 8:00 PM local time.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: AstroAlert: Impact of Coronal Mass Ejection - Aurora Warning
> > Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:19:01 -0700 (MST)
> > From: Cary Oler <[email protected]>
> > To: [email protected]
> >
> > =================================================================
> > This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Sun-Earth Interactions
> > =================================================================
> >
> > A s t r o A l e r t
> > Sun-Earth Alert
> >
> > Solar Terrestrial Dispatch
> > http://www.spacew.com
> >
> > 26 November 2002
> >
> >
> > Contents
> >
> > MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING
> >
> >
> > MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING
> >
> > A shock front in the solar wind, similar in properties to a bomb
> > explosion blast wave that occurs on the Earth, has been observed by the
> ACE
> > spacecraft at 21:10 UTC (4:10 pm EST) on 26 November. The shock front is
> the
> > result of the explosive eruption of a large solar filament (a huge area of
> > gas suspended above the surface of the Sun's photosphere by strong
> magnetic
> > fields) that was observed on 24 November. The eruption produced a full
> halo
> > coronal mass ejection which is now impacting the Earth.
> >
> > Very early, initial and preliminary data from the ACE spacecraft is
> > showing a strong interplanetary magnetic field that is oriented in a
> > direction favorable for producing auroral storm activity. As a result, a
> > middle latitude auroral activity warning has been issued. Periods of minor
> to
> > major geomagnetic and auroral storming will be possible with this
> > disturbance, particularly if the interplanetary magnetic field maintains
> its
> > favorable southward orientation.
> >
> > You can determine whether conditions might be favorable for producing
> > periods of auroral storming yourself by visiting our plots page at:
> > http://www.spacew.com/plots.html. Perhaps the most important plot to watch
> is
> > the Bz plot, which describes the strength of the north-south component of
> the
> > interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). When the Bz plot is sustained in a
> > strong negative (southward) orientation (greater than -10 to -15 nT for
> > longer than an hour or two), geomagnetic and auroral storming is likely to
> > commence. Stronger solar wind velocities and densities also play a role in
> > modulating the response of the Earth's magnetosphere, but the dominant
> > parameter is the north-south Bz component of the IMF. Plots at the above
> URL
> > are updated every 1 to 2 minutes with real-time data.
> >
> > European and North American observers may be well placed for
> observing
> > the strongest phase of activity. The middle latitude auroral activity
> warning
> > is included below.
> >
> > /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
> >
> > MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING
> >
> > ISSUED: 22:10 UTC, 26 NOVEMBER 2002
> >
> > /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
> >
> > *** POTENTIAL FOR MODERATE TO HIGH ACTIVITY EXISTS ***
> >
> > For North Americans, begin watching TONIGHT.
> >
> >
> > VALID BEGINNING AT: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
> > VALID UNTIL: 22:00 UTC (5 PM EST) ON 27 NOVEMBER
> >
> > HIGH RISK PERIOD: 27 NOVEMBER (UTC DAYS)
> > MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 26 - 28 NOVEMBER
> >
> > PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 16, 40, 15, 12 (26 NOV - 29 NOV)
> >
> > POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE TO HIGH
> >
> > POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 TO 18 HOURS
> > MINOR BELT = 18 TO 24 HOURS
> >
> > ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: PRIOR TO AND NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT
> >
> > EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: MODERATE
> >
> > OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: FAIR TO GOOD
> >
> > AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...
> >
> > OREGON TO EXTREME NORTHERN UTAH TO WYOMING TO NORTHERN NEBRASKA TO IOWA
> TO
> > ILLINOIS TO INDIANA TO OHIO TO WEST VIRGINIA TO NORTHERN VIRGINIA AND
> > MARYLAND.
> >
> > ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...
> >
> > NORTHERN FRANCE TO BELGIUM TO CENTRAL GERMANY TO CENTRAL POLAND TO
> > NORTHERN BELARUS TO NORTH-CENTRAL RUSSIA. ACTIVITY MAY ALSO BE OBSERVED
> > FROM NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA.
> >
> >
> > SYNOPSIS...
> >
> > A moderately strong interplanetary disturbance is in-progress. Impact
> > of the disturbance occurred at the Earth near 21:52 UTC (4:52 pm EST).
> > Periods of minor to major auroral storming are expected to accompany this
> > disturbance. Observations of auroral activity will be possible across
> > wide-spread middle latitude regions during the next 12 to 18 hours.
> Initial
> > data suggest the disturbance could become fairly strong initially.
> >
> > This warning will remain in effect until 22:00 UTC on 27 November. It
> > will then be downgraded to a watch or allowed to expire.
> >
> > PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO:
> > http://www.spacew.com/submitsighting.html
> >
> > CURRENT REPORTED SIGHTINGS OF ACTIVITY MAY BE FOUND AT:
> > http://www.spacew.com/www/auroras.html
> >
> > CURRENT REAL-TIME CONDITIONS (PLOTS) ARE AVAILABLE AT:
> > http://www.spacew.com/plots.html
> >
> > CURRENT GALLERY OF ASTRONOMICAL AND AURORA IMAGES:
> > http://www.spacew.com/gallery
> >
> > DISCUSSIONS OF ACTIVITY
> > http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html
> >
> >
> > ** End of the AstroAlert Bulletin **
> > ==================================================================
> > AstroAlert is a free service of SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential
> > Magazine of Astronomy (http://SkyandTelescope.com/). This e-mail
> > was sent to AstroAlert subscribers. If you feel you received it
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> > replacing "[email protected]" with your actual e-mail address.
> > ==================================================================
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > Lamoine Emergency Amateur Radio Club
> >
> > W9SSP - 147.060 (103.5 tone)
> >
> > WB9TEA - 444.300
> >
> > Meetings on the second Tuesday of the month.
> > 7:00 PM at the American Red Cross Building in Macomb.
> >
> > Next meeting will be December 10, 2002.
> >
> > Hope to see you there.
> >
> >
> > LeArc mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/learc
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Lamoine Emergency Amateur Radio Club
>
> W9SSP - 147.060 (103.5 tone)
>
> WB9TEA - 444.300
>
> Meetings on the second Tuesday of the month.
> 7:00 PM at the American Red Cross Building in Macomb.
>
> Next meeting will be December 10, 2002.
>
> Hope to see you there.
>
> LeArc mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/learc
--
Jay Hainline KA9CFD EN40om
Colchester, IL
[email protected]
http://www.qsl.net/learc