Astro Bob

During this morning's G3 storm — modeled here around 9 a.m. CDT — the aurora expanded and brightened across Siberia. NASA / NOAA Earlier this morning (May 12) from about 7-9 a.m. Central Time a strong G3 geomagnetic storm rattled the planet's magnetic field. Too bad the sun was shining or the northern half of the U.S. and Canada would have witnessed a fine display of northern lights. Although it's difficult to say whether the disruption could spill over into tonight there's always a possibility.  This is one of the two coronal mass ejections related to the filament eruption and a modest solar flare on May 9. NASA / ESA  For now, the space weather forecasters predict "active" but not storm conditions this evening from nightfall till dawn. That typically means a little bit of aurora within 10° of the northern horizon for observers in the northern states. The cause of the excitement is a tendril of hot gas called a filament, which the sun flung into space on Ma