live commentary updates - Aurora & NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS UpDATEs
UPDATED 26/10/2024 - 07:58hrs
A very good morning to everyone it's has been a busy morning and in fact a busy hour on the sun this morning with a strong M9.5 solar flare on the sun at 7:23hrs which produced what looks like another nice CME this morning.
This was then followed by a big X1.8 solar flare at 7:52hrs and we await imagery to see if this produced another CME. It was a long duration flare so more than likely it has and generally when we get long duration flares the CME associated are big .
These sunspots are in a more earth facing direction this today so a part of the CME could pass earth in the next 48 to 72 hours but we will comfrim these chances over today once we get more data.
Stay tuned for further updates.
Strong X1.3 solar flare earlier this morning on the sun
UPDATED 25/10/2024 - 17:49hrs
A G1 Storm watch is currently in place for for Saturday 26th of October when a CME is expected to graze earth following Thursday mornings major X flare which measured X3.3 in size.
A large CME was observed leaving the area but was not directly launched towards earth. A Halo CME was seen on the Coronagraph Images meaning there will be some earth directed component and this is the reason for the G1 storm watch. There is a possibility if this CME does Graze earth then we see G2 storm conditions for a time.
Likely arrival time will be Saturday afternoon or evening so this will mean a chance of some Aurora Saturday night.
Over the coming days there will be a risk of further strong or major solar flares as a new large area of sun spots rotate into view which can be seen on the below image . The more these rotate directly to face earth the bigger risk of the Aurora if a large solar flare and coronal mass ejection occurs.
Stay turned for further
Kenneth from Aurora Alerts Ireland
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What Noctilucent clouds look like
Noctilucent cloud season starts late May and ends during the month of August always look northwards
Observing noctilucent clouds is easy and, best of all, completely free. You don’t need any expensive telescopes, binoculars or cameras. Just a pair of eyes will be fine.
Having said that, a pair of binoculars will allow you to see fascinating detail and structure within an NLC display that is invisible to the naked eye.
You don’t need to be under a pitch black sky to see them, as a good display will be so bright that it will be visible from your back garden or even your bedroom window, as long as you’re facing north.
Noctilucent clouds typically begin to show themselves around midnight, when the summer sky is as dark as it’s going to get.
