G2 geomagnetic storm, northern Bz, coronal hole

Tuesday, 8 September 2015 18:33 UTC

G2 geomagnetic storm, northern Bz, coronal hole

Vivid auroral displays have filled the skies at many high latitude locations during the past 24 hours and even from middle latitude locations we have heard reports of visible aurora. This was due to an unforeseen powerful coronal hole solar wind stream which sparked a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm. Keep on reading for a selection of images made during the past 24 hours.

Header image: Marcel de Bont (Skellefteå, Sweden)

Image: Marcel de Bont (Skellefteå, Sweden)

Image: Ve Or‎ (Wiefels, Germany)

Image: Christian Hering-Junghans‎ (Alberta, Canada)

Image: Travis Novitsky (Grand Portage State Forest, MN, USA)

Image: Mark Ferrier (Scotland)

Image: Beate Behnke (Northern Sweden)

Image: Yvonne Johannesström (Northern Sweden)

Image: Jüri Voit (Estonia)

Image: Kris Williams (Anglesey, UK)

Current conditions

The direction of the IMF (Bz) has now shifted to a northward direction, which plummeted us back to quiet geomagnetic conditions. We think this shift to a constant northward Bz might be from a weak coronal mass ejection associated with a filament eruption. Geomagnetic conditions are expected to be quiet (Kp2 or less) in the coming hours unless the Bz shifts southward again but this is unlikely.

UPDATE 00:29 UTC: The direction of the IMF (Bz) has finally shifted southwards and European magnetometers are already responding. The NOAA SWPC reported a Kp of 4 already which stands for active geomagnetic conditions. If the Bz continues to point southwards then sky watchers in northern Scotland and around the US-Canadian border should be alert for aurora near the horizon.

What can we expect the coming days

More aurora is possible in a few days as we have yet again a coronal hole in an earth-facing position. Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole could arrive on Friday and a minor G1 geomagnetic storm can be expected.

Image: A coronal hole is now facing Earth as can be seen on this image from SDO.

Any mentioned solar flare in this article has a scaling factor applied by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the reported solar flares are 42% smaller than for the science quality data. The scaling factor has been removed from our archived solar flare data to reflect the true physical units.

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