SPACEWEATHER.COM NEWS: July 25, 2024
CME IMPACT: A CME struck Earth today, July 25th, at 1422 UT. We’re not sure, but this could be the halo CME launched toward Earth by a dark plasma eruption on July 21st. G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead as Earth moves through the CME’s magnetized wake.
Solar Orbiter reports farside event, July 23, 2024, as an X14 Class Solar Flare
MAJOR FARSIDE SOLAR FLARE: The biggest flare of Solar Cycle 25 just exploded from the farside of the sun. X-ray detectors on Europe’s Solar Orbiter (SolO) spacecraft registered an X14 category blast:
Solar Orbiter was over the farside of the sun when the explosion occurred on July 23rd, in perfect position to observe a flare otherwise invisible from Earth.
“From the estimated GOES class, it was the largest flare so far,” says Samuel Krucker of UC Berkeley. Krucker is the principal investigator for STIX, an X-ray telescope on SolO which can detect solar flares and classify them on the same scale as NOAA’s GOES satellites. “Other large flares we’ve detected are from May 20, 2024 (X12) and July 17, 2023 (X10). All of these have come from the back side of the sun.”
Meanwhile on the Earthside of the sun, the largest flare so far registered X8.9 on May 14, 2024. SolO has detected at least three larger farside explosions, which means our planet has been dodging a lot of bullets.
The X14 farside flare was indeed a major event. It hurled a massive CME into space, shown here in a coronagraph movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
The CME sprayed energetic particles all over the solar system. Earth itself was hit by ‘hard’ protons (E > 100 MeV) despite being on the opposite side of the sun.
“This is a big one–a 360 degree event,” says George Ho of the Southwest Research Institute, principal investigator for one of the energetic particle detectors onboard SolO. “It also caused a high dosage at Mars.”
SolO was squarely in the crosshairs of the CME, and on July 24th it experienced a direct hit. In a matter of minutes, particle counts jumped almost a thousand-fold as the spacecraft was peppered by a hail storm energetic ions and electrons.
“This is something we call an ‘Energetic Storm Particle’ (ESP) event,” explains Ho. “It’s when particles are locally accelerated in the CME’s shock front [to energies higher than a typical solar radiation storm]. An ESP event around Earth in March 1989 caused the Great Quebec Blackout.”
So that’s what might have happened if the CME hit Earth instead of SolO. Maybe next time. The source of this blast will rotate around to face our planet a week to 10 days from now, so stay tuned.
Historical Activity for Comparison
The Great Quebec Blackout: They call it “the day the sun brought darkness.” On March 13, 1989, a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field. Ninety seconds later, the Hydro-Québec power grid failed. During the 9 hour blackout that followed, millions of Quebecois found themselves with no light or heat, wondering what was going on?
In Sept. 1859, a similar CME hit Earth’s magnetic field–the infamous “Carrington Event“–sparking a storm twice as strong as March 1989. Electrical currents surged through Victorian-era telegraph wires, in some cases causing sparks and setting telegraph offices on fire.
So far, it has been challenging to estimate the flare magnitude of this great event, mainly because it predated modern X-ray satellite measurements (Benz 2017; Cliver et al. 2022). To date, the magnitude of the Carrington flare has been indirectly estimated as a GOES magnitude of ≈X45 ± 5 (and subsequently revised to X64.4 ± 7.2 owing to the GOES rescaling), based mainly on contemporary geomagnetic measurements for synchronized solar flare effects
(Sources: IOPScience, Wikipedia)
Depending on the force of the explosion, proton storms can reach the Earth in minutes vs the typical delay of about 3 days. Communication systems are more stable these days, but it’s hard to imagine the effects of an X45 or X64 event from the Earth-facing solar eruption of this magnitude. (Should we be unplugging the computers at night? Maybe there’s enough CO2 in a can of whipped cream to put out a small fire. 🙂
Visit Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), NASA’s Spaceweather and Solar Activity Dashboard
The SOHO dashboard includes links to other Spaceweather reporting dashboards around the world.
Visit the NOAA Spaceweather Enthusiasts Dashboard for additional video and charted activity, and NOAA Alerts, Watches, and Warnings page.
Mayan Time…
13 Jaguar/IX (Cherokee, Panther/SAHO’NI) – Day 13 of the 1 Wind/IK trecena
Descriptions by Ian Xel Lungold (12 Sun/AHAU), wisdom and Tzolk’in calculator preserved on MayanMajix.com
Galactic Tone 13: Ascension. Thirteen assists us to go to the next higher step, propels us to try something new or to try again. Thirteen energy takes us over the next mountain just to see what is there. Thirteen carries the last success to the newest effort. Thirteen is a number associated with the Ascended Masters, creation, expansion, and manifestation.
Jaguar/IX: Born with a deep love of the Mother Earth, Jaguar or shaman is directly tied to the source of all Earth magic. They possess great power of intellect and strength or character through integrity. Jaguar energy is feminine in nature and is the ruling spirit of jungles, plains, and mountains. The spirit of Jaguar inhabits the Mayan temples and is called on to assist in spiritual as well as in material ways. Jaguar is also the god/goddess of gratefulness. Patience born of strength and skill can turn to pounce of quick decision and action. Both bold and stealth, Jaguars do not often attack directly and communications from them usually contain some mystery. In the absence of integrity, Jaguars power corrupts becoming a search for wealth and fame.
A GOOD DAY TO: Commune and give thanks to Mother Nature.
Cherokee, Panther/SAHO’NI: Panther is symbolized by comets, meteors, shooting stars, fireballs, and magicians. Meteors appearing around the middle of November are Heralds of the Coming of the Light, the Cherokee New Year. Panther is the Shadow of the Sphinx, Herald of the Dawn, guardian of the night when the sun is traveling through the underworld. Panthers have unlimited imaginations, visualizations, and are spellbinding speakers. The Totem Jaguar is the guardian of the portals to other dimensions; shamanic abilities will open; multi-dimensional magic; healer, leader, way shower energy when used for spiritual growth. Abuse would be for using this power for control or negative purposes; must find a powerful balance.
“See the moon meet Saturn, watch for shooting stars and find the Northern Crown this week.” (Space.com)
Discover your night sky this week, July 22-28, 2024, using just your naked eyes, no equipment necessary.
(Looking to the East and Above)
“‘Double’ meteor shower will light up the skies next week.” (LiveScience.com)
Stargazers will soon be able to witness a “double” meteor shower as both the Alpha Capricornids and the Southern Delta Aquariids peak next week. Southern Delta Aquariids will peak July 29 to July 30 — and comet 169P/NEAT, which births the Alpha Capricornids that will peak July 30 to July 31.
The twin-skywatching event is “just an amazing coincidence,” Nicholas Moskovitz, a planetary astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, told Live Science.
[Text in italics was the primary source of inspiration for my journal. These are the sources that started my journey and they are the reference for interpretation each day. By providing the original text, I hope to offer a way to see what inspired my thoughts and by including all the aspects – allow for something more to inspire you. Mayan descriptions are those written by Ian Lungold. Cherokee descriptions came from multiple sources. Links to sources and other resources of study are offered on the Daykeeper Resources Page. ~Debra]
