Photo by Space Weather Prediction CenterThe Earth is safe, for now. Although our little solar heat-lamp didn’t go ‘nova and swallow up in a fiery tsunami, the last disruptions from this past week’s solar flare will be dissipating this weekend. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center predicts that as result of the flare, also known as the snicker-inducing coronal mass ejections, solar winds could cause shortwave disruptions to communications and power grids. On the other hand, maybe this astro-burp will give us an small chance to look up from our iPhones to see auroras in our skies. The SWPC gives us a less than coin-flip chance, 30%, of seeing auroras as far south as D.C. At our latitude, the sun would have to emit a major solar event for us to see anything. At that point, news headlines will be preoccupied with blackouts, damaged satellites and outages. Most likely, our northern and European counterparts will reap the benefits of the Northern Lights. Has anyone in our area seen, or photographed, anything yet?
Until then, there are a number of solar disaster movies to hold our interests until next time.
