Space weather forecast: Sunny again, very sunny

Sun flares up again, causing auroras, radio problems

An aurora was photographed east of El Paso in West Texas near dawn on March 31

In this story: Storm not over yet Solar flares light up southern skies RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- The sun spewed out two more intense spikes of energy early Monday, continuing a powerful geomagnetic storm that generated auroras as far south as Mexico this weekend.

The storm started on March 30th after the biggest sunspot cluster in at least 10 years was spotted in the upper hemisphere of the sun.

GALLERY These pictures were taken between March 20 and 24 in Fairbanks, Alaska, by Jan Curtis with The Alaska Climate Research Center Click here enter the gallery   RESOURCES Click here for more aurora pictures NOAA's Space Weather Now Tips on viewing aurora Click here for a real time image of the sun updated every minute from the Sacramento Peak Precision Solar Photometric Telescope NOTE: Opens in new window    Coronal Mass Ejections: The sun's corona is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Source: NOAA's Space Environment Center

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center, the latest solar discharge could arrive at Earth as early as Tuesday.

"It cut loose this morning," Gary Heckman, senior forecaster at the Space Environment Center told CNN.com on Monday.

Scientists said, like the flares last week, Monday's flare was a class X, the most potent category.

Storm not over yet

Just past the peak of an 11-year cycle of activity, the sun has become increasingly excited in recent weeks. Turbulent sunspot storms become epidemic on the surface of the sun during such times of solar maximum.

Solar scientists recently spotted the gigantic sunspot cluster, known as active region 9393. A pair of intense coronal mass ejections, or CME's, leaped out of the region last week.

Heckman said the region appears to be quieting down.

"The big 9393 spot has moved a little bit to the west limb of sun," he said.

As a result, the energy now pouring out of region 9393 may only strike a "glancing blow" on Earth, Heckman said, meaning fewer auroras and communications problems than last week.

The storm was so intense Saturday that satellites in geosynchronous orbit around the planet were temporarily left outside Earth's magnetic field, Heckman said. Since satellites use the Earth's magnetic poles to stay oriented with Earth, the change could have caused some satellites to flip upside down.

Heckman said he did hear reports of errors for some Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) this weekend. The Associated Press also reported the eruptions triggered a powerful, but brief, blackout Friday on some high-frequency radio channels and low-frequency navigational signals.

Just as region 9393 appears to be settling down, Heckman said another spot is crackling with energy.

A large-scale image of the sun's region 9393, the source of the recent increased solar activity

"We had an extremely strong event yesterday (Sunday) morning ... it's tremendous," Heckman said. This "event" is on the other side of the sun and its affects won't be felt for a few days.

Sunspots, which are cooler, darker regions on the sun's surface, are caused by a concentration of temporarily distorted magnetic fields. They spawn tremendous eruptions, or flares, into the sun's atmosphere, hurling clouds of electrified gas toward Earth.

While the solar activity often produces a magnificent aurora in the night sky, it also can interfere with satellites, aviation radar, radio signals and other electronic equipment.

Solar flares light up southern skies

Veteran aurora watchers described the weekend display as the most photogenic of the current solar cycle.

Friday night, the light from solar flares was reported near cities including Palm Springs and Sacramento, California; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Albuquerque and Carlsbad, New Mexico.

"It has totally lit up the sky. We've had dozens and dozens of calls. People want to know what it is," said Bill Seigel, a producer at radio station KESQ in Palm Desert, 115 miles east of Los Angeles. "Some people thought it was UFOs."

A rare aurora was spotted over Houston, Texas, on March 31

Just north of Albuquerque, David MacKel was making the rounds at his security job when he saw the lights. He noted it on his report at 11:23 p.m.

"It was blood red. That's all I can say. It was kind of opaque and you could see the stars through it," MacKel said. He said he had seen the Northern Lights while in Alaska, but "the Northern Light move, this was more gaseous. It kind of got me freaked out."

Deputy Danny Gonzales of Eddy County, New Mexico, described it as a purple haze. "It was very distinct in color," he said. "I have never seen anything like it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Giant sunspot spawns space storm heading our way
March 30, 2001
Sun flips magnetic field
February 16, 2001

NOAA's Space Weather Now

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