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Everyone is familiar with weather systems on Earth like rain, wind and snow. But space weather – variable conditions in the space surrounding Earth – has important consequences for our lives inside Earth’s atmosphere. Solar activity occurring miles outside Earth’s atmosphere, for example, can trigger magnetic storms on Earth. These storms are visually stunning, but they can set our modern infrastructure spinning. On Jan. 19, scientists saw a solar flare in an active region of the Sun, along with a concentrated blast of solar-wind plasma and magnetic field lines known as a coronal mass ejection that burst from the Sun’s...

AURORAS AND A FIREBALL: This week, the brightest auroras of the year have been surging around the Arctic Circle. Never one to waste a photo-op, English astrophotographer Pete Lawrence boarded a "Northern Lights flight" on Feb. 15th, and this is what he saw 37,000 ft over the Shetland Islands: "The display was awesome and completely occupied the view, illuminating the fuselage and clouds below us in an eerie green light," says Lawrence. "At one point, a brilliant fireball streaked down towards the horizon. If you're wondering why there are two fireball trails, the main one was so bright that it...

A recurrence of the 1859 solar superstorm would be a cosmic Katrina, causing billions of dollars of damage to satellites, power grids and radio communications The solar superstorm of 1859 was the fiercest ever recorded. Auroras filled the sky as far south as the Caribbean, magnetic compasses went haywire and telegraph systems failed. Ice cores suggest that such a blast of solar particles happens only once every 500 years, but even the storms every 50 years could fry satellites, jam radios and cause coast-to-coast blackouts. The cost of such an event justifies more systematic solar monitoring and beefier protection for...

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has captured the largest data set yet of Jupiter's colorful lights called aurora, yielding a pretty picture that could help solve some mysteries about the phenomenon. The phenomenon is similar to the Northern Lights seen on Earth, thought on a much larger scale. "Jupiter has auroras bigger than our entire planet," said Randy Gladstone of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. In a NASA statement today, Gladstone called the purple rings in a new colorized image "Northern Lights on steroids. They're hundreds of times more energetic than auroras on Earth." Unlike Earth's auroras, Jupiter's...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – Country music star Tammy Cochran has enlisted to perform at the Freedom Walk in Aurora, Colo., on Sept. 9, according to event organizers. Cochran is slated to perform at the Aurora Municipal Center, along with recording artist Allen Asbury, as well as the Kory Brunson Band, North-40 and other artists and groups. “Tammy Cochran is so generous to come and join us for this special event, and we are happy to have her,” said Leo Pacheco, executive director for the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center, which is sponsoring Aurora’s Freedom Walk. Aurora’s Freedom Walk also...

Solar activity remains very high and shows no signs of abating. Sunspot 798/808 has unleashed seven X-class solar flares since Sept. 7th. Forecasters say there's a 75% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms. Coronal mass ejections hurled into space by these explosions could hit Earth's magnetic field in the days ahead. Sky watchers, particularly in northern places like Canada and Alaska, should remain alert for auroras. The best time to look is local midnight. The sun's 27-day rotation is slowly turning sunspot 798 to face Earth. Explosions in the coming...