Tag Archive | Solar Winds on the Way

SPACEWEATHER: The Equinox Begins the Season of Auroras

Aurora, Taken from the flight deck by Matt Melnyk on September 22, 2026 @ Northern Manitoba, Hudson Bay.

Aurora Portals at the Equinox

SPACEWEATHER.COM NEWS: 09/22/2026

AURORAS LOVE EQUINOXES: Autumn begins this week, and so does aurora season. The northern autumnal equinox is today, Sept. 22nd. That is the cue for Arctic lights to switch on.

The reason is the Russell-McPherron effect. In 1973, UCLA researchers Christopher Russell and Robert McPherron figured out why geomagnetic activity has seasons. During the days and weeks around equinoxes, Earth’s tilt lines up our planet’s magnetic field with the sun’s, and the two fields connect. This creates pathways and portals in the magnetosphere where solar wind can enter.

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SPACEWEATHER: Continuing Solar Flares Aug 20-21, 2026

A New Solar Flare from the Sun’s Western Limb

SOLAR FLARE ALERT: Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected a M1.7 class solar flare at 21-Aug-2026 at 09:57:00 UTC (04:57:00 AM CDT). An R1 (minor) radio blackout is possible on the sunlit side of Earth.

UPDATE: The M1.7 flare came from sunspot 4507 at solar coordinates N3W89. That is right at the Sun’s limb.

What this means: the flare site is directed almost entirely away from Earth. Spectacular to image, but not a threat to our geomagnetic field.

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SPACEWEATHER: Comet Pan-STARRS, Glancing Blow CME Arrival

Light for Tomorrow and Today

SPACEWEATHER.COM NEWS: 03/26/2026

NAKED-EYE COMET ON THE WAY: A visitor from the outermost reaches of the solar system is about to become a naked-eye object. Introducing Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2025 R3):

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SPACEWEATHER: A Spotless Sun and Light on the Way

The Sun Today, 02/22/2026, Credit: NASA/SDO

The Light of the Sun

SPACEWEATHER.COM NEWS: 02/22/2026

THE FIRST SPOTLESS DAY IN 4 YEARS: Click on this image and take a careful look around the solar disk. Can you find any sunspots? We can’t either:

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