Solar eruption misses Earth, auroras likely anyway

This post is more than 60 days old and may no longer be the most up-to-date content. For event related posts, please check for a newer article to avoid confusion on times and locations.

Space Weather News for Sept. 5, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR ACTIVITY: On Sept. 4th around 1600 UT, a magnetic filament erupted, hurling a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) off the sun’s northwestern limb. Today’s edition of http://spaceweather.com features a close-up view of the blast from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The CME is not expected to hit Earth. Nevertheless, auroras are possible in the nights ahead. A solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole is heading our way, due to arrive on Sept. 5th or 6th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic activity when the solar wind hits. With the approach of northern autumn, Arctic nights are getting dark again–dark enough to see the Northern Lights. People in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia should keep an eye on the night sky this weekend.