SCIENTISTS TRACKING EJECTION FROM SUN THAT
REACHED EARTH ON JANUARY 6
Researchers from the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP)
program are currently
tracking a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the Sun late on
January 2 and began
arriving at Earth around 10 a.m. Eastern Time on January 6. CMEs
are eruptions
of electrically
charged gas from the Sun that can trigger magnetic storms around
Earth. Such
eruptions—which are becoming more frequent as the Sun builds up
toward the maximum
of its 11-year cycle--occasionally disturb spacecraft, navigation
and communications
systems, and electric power grids.
The Wind, Polar, and Geotail spacecraft, as well as a network of
smaller satellites and
ground-based observatories are now monitoring the interplanetary
storm as it crosses
paths with Earth. Scientists are observing changes in the strength
of Earth’s magnetic
field and radiation belts, while gathering images of Earth’s
auroras.
Forecasters at the Space Environment Center of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric
Administration predicted the CME would begin arriving during the
latter half of January
6 and would continue through January 7. The disturbance to Earth’s
magnetic field and
space environment is not expected to be particularly strong;
however, observers at high
latitudes (Canada, Scandinavia, etc.) are likely to see aurora
tonight and tomorrow.
On January 2, scientists operating the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO)
spacecraft detected a “halo” type coronal mass ejection erupting
from the Sun at
approximately 500 km/s (more than 1 million miles per hour). The
SOHO team alerted
the rest of ISTP to the possibility of an Earthbound storm. In
research presented at the
December meeting of the American Geophysical Union, ISTP
researchers announced that
“halo” CMEs almost always result in magnetic activity at Earth.
Halo CMEs are so
named because they appear as expanding halos around the Sun when
seen from Earth.
ISTP is a joint, comprehensive effort to observe and understand our
star, the Sun, and its
effects on Earth’s environment in space. The primary participating
institutions include
NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japanese Institute of
Space and
Astronautical Sciences (ISAS), the Russian Space Research Institute
(IKI).
ISTP Release