Good time to watch the night sky. Biggest flare since 2006 means there might be some awesome auroras, especially tomorrow night.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/big-solar-flare/

Doug:

Thanks for the link.

Hopefully you have better skies then us out here and that you get to see the northern lights show. The forecast here is cloudy and wet...typical PNW winter weather.

That's weird, only last Sunday I was telling a colleague about the Carrington Supersolar Storm of 1859 after he mentioned that everyone is getting to reliant on technology such as the Internet. He was having a bad day and his Internet wasn't working, to which I replied well at least if there was a repeat of the Carrington supersolar storm at least all the phones will go down as well, so at least folks won't be calling me about the legendary robust Internet technology when it doesn't work anymore.

http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/data_service/space_weather/alert_2011-02-15.html

New Scientist article.

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/comments/7927.pdf

Rats, looks like we're overcast too. Hopefully there'll be leftovers for Friday and Saturday night (-27 and -30 mean clear, clear skies).

Edit: I still have fond and vivid memories of an event that happened perhaps 20 years ago. I was setting up a rough, solo camp on a snowbank just outside the Rocky Mountains. Winds dead calm, temperature mild, and the night sky achingly, crystal clear. Too awesome a view to block with a tarp, so I slept in the open. After dozing off and on, I woke to the most incredible auroral display I have ever seen. Full, rich Technicolor, purple and red and green -- fireworks fit for the end of the universe. That, my friends, is why we go out into wilderness.

From:
http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/data_service/space_weather/alert_2011-02-15.html

"Already one CME arrived on the 14th sparking Valentine's Day displays of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) further south than usual."

So far the worse I've seen is disruption of digital TV signals. The weakest channel, one I seldom watch, except for the one show I wanted to watch, and couldn't. That and some intermittent interference on strong channels which came in well with the antenna not pointing directly at them. Swing the antenna a bit and they are good. So far the lights haven't flickers. Granted I'm closer to the equator and geomagnetic events are often stronger toward the poles.

Also "Recent estimates suggest arrival later on the 17th or early 18th Feb" so it may not have done its worse.

If this is as bad as it gets I'm either not sensitive enough, missing the show caused a yawn and shrug instead of a fit of wrists slashing ... so far, or this isn't an 'end is nigh' event.

Flare is causing radio interference in China.
article here
-Blast