Report for 1/27/12

This week was an exciting one for space weather fans! On Monday, sunspot AR1402 caused an M9-class solar flare followed by a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME, which hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, caused a geomagnetic storm; the storm created beautiful auroras for sky watchers as far south as South Dakota and Michigan in the US.

Yesterday, a CME was released from the Sun over its north pole, although it is not heading toward Earth. Earth is also safe from the effects of the powerful X2-class flare and CME that sunspot AR1402 unleashed today. This sunspot is on the far side of the Sun, so its recent activity has not been aimed at us.

A solar wind stream is expected to arrive over the weekend, which may cause some disruptions in Earth's magnetic field. What are your predictions for this weekend's space weather? Make your forecast here!

An X2-class solar flare and CME erupted today.

Report for 1/20/12

Sunspot 1401 put on a show for us this week, causing several space weather events. According to the NASA Goddard Space Weather Lab, strong geomagnetic storms are possible this weekend due to a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that occurred yesterday. The CME occurred when sunspot 1401 erupted around 16:30 UTC. It produced not only the CME, but an M3-class solar flare.

What do you predict the weekend will hold? Make your space weather forecast here!

Sunspot 1401 has been very active this week.

Report for 1/13/12

Over half of the Camilla Space Weather Project forecasters predicted a 60-80% chance of a solar event last week. Good job, forecasters! There were C-class solar flares on Jan. 9 and Jan. 12!

Last weekend, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured footage of sunspot AR1393 tripling in size in just over two days, growing to be about five times the width of Earth (see video)! Despite its size, this sunspot did not produce much activity. On the other hand, on Jan. 9, sunspot AR1395 caused a C-class solar flare when its magnetic field untwisted!

Sunspot AR1393 tripled in size last weekend!

A minor solar wind stream caused beautiful auroras around the Arctic Circle on Jan. 10. The Sun put on another show yesterday with an eruption on its far side, which caused a C-class flare (see image below). The active region that caused the eruption and flare will be turning toward Earth over the weekend; do you think it will cause any other events? Make your predictions here!

This active region produced a flare on Jan. 12 and will soon face Earth.

Report for 1/6/12

Half of our Camilla Space Weather Project forecasters predicted a 40% chance of a solar event this week (see chart on right).

On Jan. 2, there was a solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME)! Although not Earth-facing, it put on a beautiful show for around three hours.

On Jan. 5, the Sun released another CME. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center predicts a 15-40% chance of geomagnetic storms in the higher latitudes through Jan. 8 (see table above). This is due to a solar wind stream that is predicted to hit Earth's magnetic field.

The Sun is currently quiet, but what will the weekend hold? Submit your forecasts and let us know what you think!

Plasma dances on the Sun after a CME and flare on Jan. 2, 2012.