[TaraP]

Here is why they can’t believe their ears: The solar wind presses against Earth’s magnetosphere almost directly above the equator where our planet’s magnetic field points north. Suppose a bundle of solar magnetism comes along, and it points north, too. The two fields should reinforce one another, strengthening Earth’s magnetic defenses and slamming the door shut on the solar wind. In the language of space physics, a north-pointing solar magnetic field is called a “northern IMF” and it is synonymous with shields up!

“So, you can imagine our surprise when a northern IMF came along and shields went down instead,” says Sibeck. “This completely overturns our understanding of things.”

Northern IMF events don’t actually trigger geomagnetic storms, notes Raeder, but they do set the stage for storms by loading the magnetosphere with plasma. A loaded magnetosphere is primed for auroras, power outages, and other disturbances that can result when, say, a CME (coronal mass ejection) hits.

[TaraP]

On Dec. 21st, another solar wind stream will arrive, only this time it will hit Earth directly. The stream is spewing from a coronal hole that straddles the sun's equator, which puts our planet squarely in the "cross hairs." The longest night of the year could be a green one; Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

[Paco]

Sounds to me like we need a cloaking device to hide earth from these attacking octupus-like magnetic tentacles. “Scotty! WE NEED MORE POWER!!!

[Kackikat]

Don’t think I want one of those electric cars then.