Fw: [WSVHF] Auroras & interstellar meteors

[Jim Worsham]

Another flare and CME, the largest so far.  If you guys want to look at
something cool (at least I think it is) check out
members.mint.net/n1bug/prop/aumon/aufr.html.  This is N1BUG's aurora monitor
web site.  It has all kinds of cool data and photos being dowlinked from
various satellites and ground based observation sites in near real time (5
minute updates) along with information on what it all means.  From what I
can tell from my reading on this page the things to watch are Vi (solar wind
velocity), Ni (solar wind particle density) and Bz (Z component of the
earth's magnetic field).  When the CME's hit you will see Vi and Ni increase
sharply.  The thing to watch then is Bz.  It will become very erratic.  That
is the geomagnetic "storm" you hear about.  If Bz starts to move in a
negative (southerly) direction that is what triggers the aurora.  The more
negative Bz becomes the larger and more intense the auroral oval will
become.  I don't understand the physics of this (I will leave that to K4SZ
to explain) but these are the things to watch for in the next two days.  I
will be on the air listening on 6 (50.125) and 2 (144.2) as much as possible
for the next two days.

73
Jim W4KXY
w4kxy@bellsouth.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shelby Ennis, W8WN" <w8wn@arrl.net>
To: <hsms@qth.net>; <meteor-scatter@qth.net>; <wsvhf@qth.net>
Cc: <sac72329@aol.com>; <barry.a.knight@jci.com>; <vuckod@juno.com>;
<don_akers@hotmail.com>; <n6cl@fuller.edu>; <WD8KVD@cp.duluth.mn.us>;
<w3ep@arrl.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2000 3:10 PM
Subject: [WSVHF] Auroras & interstellar meteors


> Auroral News report:
> From Space Weather - The most powerful solar flare of the current series
> erupted at approximately 1650 UT on Nov. 26th. The X4-category flare
> triggered a strong radio blackout over the sunlit side of Earth and
> launched another coronal mass ejection.
> Geomagnetic activity has not yet reached storm levels in spite of two
> coronal mass ejections that hit our planet's magnetosphere on Saturday
> night. Four more CMEs are on the way. They will likely arrive at intervals
> of 6 to 12 hours for the next two days.  Geomagnetic activity could become
> severe during the next 48 hours as one shock wave after another reaches
> Earth.  See http://www.spaceweather.com/   or
> http://members.mint.net/n1bug/prop/aumon/aufr.html   for updated info.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Meteors from Babylon 5?
> From January 2001 Sky & Telescope - It's usually stated that the meteors
we
> use in our communications are the dust thrown off by comets.  Actually,
> planetary scientists still debate how much of the dust in the inner solar
> system arises from comets and how much comes from asteroids.
> And we know that approximately 75 km/sec (160,000 mi/hr) is the fastest
> that any of the meteors can be, for if they were any faster they would
have
> enough velocity to leave the solar system.  Surprise, surprise.   The
> Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar (AMOR) in New Zealand determines the orbits of
> about 1000 meteors daily.  Approximately two of these are of
*interstellar*
> origin.  W. Jack Baggaley has discovered that Beta Pictoris, a nearby star
> with a dusty disk, is a strong source of the interstellar meteoroids!
Does
> this qualify for interstellar MS communications?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Because of my work now on the Living Christmas Tree (9 pages of pictures,
> with technical & behind-the-scenes info on my Web page) I won't have much
> time to keep up with the possible auroras or to update the Hot News page
as
> often as usual.  If you're on VHF DX and haven't subscribed to an aurora
> alerting service, this would be a good time to do so.  2 or 3 listed on
> either the Hot News of Archived News page.
>
> 73, Shelby, W8WN
>
> Shelby Ennis, W8WN - EM77bq - KY
>                 w8wn@arrl.net
>               w8wn@amsat.org
>    Web - http://www.qsl.net/w8wn/
>                        <><
>
>
> -----
> Submissions: wsvhf@qth.net
> Subscription/removal: wsvhf-request@qth.net
>



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