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Recent Solar Events
Here you will find a record of some of the things that have been taking place more recently in and around our Sun. Enjoy!
Warning! The animations on this page may have long loading times. Be prepared to wait if connected by modem. (They're worth the wait!)
***This will be the last entry on the Recent Solar Events page because the author is moving away. For another source of recent solar events, go to Spaceweather.com where up to date information is provided. Goodbye!***
August 1-4, 2002
An unexpected geomagnetic storm stuck over the weekend, causing amazing aurorae across the country. I was flying from Pittsburgh, PA to Providence, RI late Friday night and saw some myself! I didn't have a camera ready though, so this images (from MI) will have to do.
Click here to see an image of the aurora.
July 26-28, 2002
There are a large amount of sunspots on the Sun at the moment, and a CME was released near one of them this past Friday. It is not directly coming for Earth, but some of the ejection is headed our way. There is a possibility for aurorae today (Monday). Be on the lookout!
Click here for an animation of the CME.
July 19-20, 2002
A coronal mass ejection that swept past Earth on the 19th caused some beautif5ul aurora, seen especially in Canada. Another eruption was released on July 20th, causing strong radio blackouts across North America and the Pacific.
Click here to see an image of the weekend's aurora.
Click here to see an animation of the CME from the 20th.
June 9, 2002
There was a unusually beautiful prominence that came from the Sun on Sunday that was bigger than the size of 50 Earths lined up end to end! Also, there will be a partial solar eclipse tonight when the Moon moves in front of our Sun. Remember never to stare directly at the Sun!
Click here for an image of the prominence from Sunday.
May 22-23, 2002
A CME swept past Earth early this morning, and we are in an intense geomagnetic storm. The CME left the Sun yesterday and is actually what is called a "cannibal coronal mass ejection " because it was a combination of three CMEs that fired very quickly. Look out for an aurora or two on Thursday or Friday night. We will also be entering a solar wind stream soon, stay tuned for details.
Click here for an animation of the CME.
May 16-18, 2002
A CME swept past the Earth this past Saturday, triggering a storm that lasted for about 12 hours. There were aurorae seen in northern Europe, Canada, and the New England area of the U.S.
Click here for an animation of the CME.
May 11, 2002
An interplanetary shock wave stimulated a geomagnetic storm on Saturday, causing aurorae to explode throughout the sky.
April 17-21, 2002
A CME swept past Earth on the 17th, which caused a geomagnetic storm that raged for 12 hours. Another CME left the Sun on the 17th, and reached Earth on the 19th, intensifying as time went on. Aurorae were plentiful, and were seen as far south as California and Arizona. A solar flare erupted on the 21st, causing another CME to unveil from the Sun, possibly reaching us on the 22nd or 23rd.
Click here for an animation of the CME and an image of an aurora from the 17th.
Click here to see an image of the solar flare and the CME animation from the 21st.
April 15, 2002
A CME billowed from the Sun, possibly causing Northern lights within the next week.
March 31, 2002
Earth entered a high-speed solar wind stream coming from a coronal hole, making aurorae a possibility for this weekend in higher latitudes.
Click here for an image of the coronal hole, taken three days earlier.
March 15, 2002
An explosion on the Sun hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth late on the 15th.
February 20-21, 2002
Some sunspots erupted on these days, producing solar flares and a CME coming in our direction. Look for aurorae, especially at high latitudes, on Friday and Saturday this weekend, when the CME will be reaching our planet.
Click here for an animation of the CME.
January 4, 2002
One of the more beautiful CMEs ever seen burst from the Sun on Friday. It was quite a sight despite the fact that it did not come near Earth.
Click here to see an animation of the CME.
January 1, 2002
A CME billowed away from the Sun on New Year's Day. Although it wasn't heading for our planet, an aurora was produced.
Click here to see an animation of the CME.
Click here to see an image of the aurora.
December 26-28, 2001
An explosion from the Sun triggered a solar proton storm around the planet. It wasn't directly heading toward our planet, however, and so it missed us. On the 28th, another explosion came forth from an active region on the Sun.
December 14-15, 2001
Look out for a solar eclipse today, Friday the 14th, that will be visible all over North America! Also, there is solar activity headed our way as a sunspot erupted on Thursday the 13th. Look out for aurorae today and tomorrow.
Click here for an animation of the eruption.
November 24-25, 2001
A pair of CMEs buffeted Earth on Saturday, causing aurorae to be seen as far south as Arkansas! A solar flare was also released on the 25th, but no CME resulted from it.
Click here to see an animation of the aurora.
November 4, 2001
A solar explosion sparked a huge solar flare, causing a CME to be ejected from the Sun. It reached Earth on the 6th UT time (or about 8:50 PM on the 5th EST time). Aurorae were seen all over, even in middle and southern latitudes. I personally was able to see an aurora myself for the first time in years! The storm is subsiding now.
Click here to see an image of the aurora (taken in Michigan!)
Click here to see an image of the CME that caused all of this activity.
October 25, 2001
A solar flare erupted and caused a CME to billow toward Earth. It is expected to reach us on the 27th or 28th. Keep a lookout for aurora!
Click here to see an animation of the CME.
October 19-22, 2001
A large solar flare was released on this Friday morning due to an eruption of twisted magnetic fields , causing radio blackouts through Asia and Australia. A CME was also released. The results reached Earth on the 21st. Meanwhile on the 22nd, another pair of CMEs exploded and are expected to reach Earth on the 24th or 25th. Aurora will be possible, especially if the second CME overtakes the first.
Click here to see animations of both the solar flare and the CME .
Click here to see an image of the aurora.
Click here to see an animation of the CME from the 22nd.
October 9-11, 2001
A CME erupted from the Sun and swept past the Earth on Thursday, the 11th. Keep a lookout for Northern lights in the days ahead.
Click here for an animation of the CME.
September 30-October 1, 2001
Some of the most beautiful aurora seen this aurora season were visible on the nights of the 30th and the 1st, due to a pair of disturbances in the solar wind that reached our Earth. A CME left the Sun on the 1st also, leaving us in the midst of a radiation storm.
Click here to for an image of one of the weekend's aurorae.
Click here for an animation of the CME .
September 23-25, 2001
A solar wind disturbance swept past the Earth on Sunday, the 23rd, triggering a geomagnetic storm. Meanwhile, a solar flare erupted Monday morning releasing a CME that reached the Earth on Tuesday. Another solar flare erupted on Tuesday also, but is not expected to affect our Earth.
Click here to see an image of the aurorae seen on the 23rd.
Click here to see the CME that was released on the 24th.
August 25-28, 2001
The most powerful solar flare since April erupted, causing radio blackouts in places all over the world. It also released a huge CME which hit the Earth on the 27th. There is a chance of an aurora being spotted in high latitudes tonight around local midnight.
Click here to see an animation of the CME.
August 14-20, 2001
A solar filament collapsed on the Sun causing a CME to be released which struck on the 17th. A 12 hour geomagnetic storm took place and aurorae was seen.
Click here for an animation of the CME.
Click here for an image of the aurora.
August 10, 2001
A CME was released on the 9th that may reach our Earth this weekend. An aurora may be visible over the weekend, around local midnight on Saturday and Sunday. There was also a solar wind gust coming from a coronal hole that will reach Earth on Sunday. Stay tuned to the sky, especially if you are at high latitudes!
Click here for an animation of the CME.
August 6, 2001
Although there hasn't been much solar activity going on lately, there are no three sunspots on the side of the Sun facing the Earth. Also, on the morning of the 5th, a solar wind stream reached our Earth's magnetosphere . The full moon made it difficult to see any aurorae.
June 21, 2001
A solar eclipse was visible in southern Africa, where thousands of eclipse-chasing onlookers watched.
Click here to see an image of the eclipse.
June 15-20, 2001
A geomagnetic storm takes place after a CME left the Sun on the 15th. It was not heading toward the Sun, but the bow shock caused the storm. The number of sunspots is also up. This caused the northern lights to appear on the 18th. Another three CMEs left the Sun on the 20th!
Click here to see an animation of the three CMEs.
Click here to see an animation of the CME.
Click here to see an image of the lights.
May 12-13, 2001
On the 12th, our planet entered a high-speed solar wind stream causing a small geomagnetic storm that continued minimally through the 13th. Also on the 13th, a CME left the Sun.
Click here to see an animation of the event.
April 26-28, 2001
A CME hurled into space on Thursday the 26th, striking Earth on Saturday the 28th and creating a small storm.
Click here to see an amimation of the event.
April 15-18, 2001
A solar flare, similar in power to the one from the 2nd, erupted on Easter, but fortunately the explosion was directed away from Earth. We still saw some activity though, as a shock wave hit Earth on the night of the 17th. Aurora was seen throughout North America.
Click here to see an image of the aurora.
April 10-13, 2001
Two different CMEs came together to create havoc this week, with radio blackouts and radiation storms. They reached our Earth on the 11th causing beautiful aurorae, especially in Europe. Another solar flare exploded on the 12th, sending more activity our way that reached our planet on Friday the 13th.
Click here to see an animation of the CME from the 10th.
Click here to see the aurora.
April 6-9, 2001
On Friday the 6th, a CME was ejected into space, joining another one that was already on its way to the planet. The first one, which struck Saturday the 7th, did not have much effect, but the second one which struck Sunday the 8th, created a geomagnetic storm.
April 4, 2001
Although most of the material released from the flare on Monday was directed away from the Earth, some still made it to our magnetosphere today. There will be some activity, but not as much as what took place on March 31st.
April 2, 2001
The biggest solar flare in 12 years erupted from the Sun on the 2nd! Fortunately, most of the material released was facing away from Earth, but there was still an ongoing solar storm taking place around our planet. Also, the huge sunspot that appeared recently is slowly shrinking and will soon disappear.
Click here to see an animation of the massive CME that resulted from the flare.
March 28-April 1, 2001
All kinds of crazy stuff going on with the Sun these days! One of the largest sunspots in 10 years appeared on the disk , having the surface area of 13 Earths! A coronal mass ejection erupted near it on the 28th. It arrived at Earth on Friday, the 30th, causing a storm that lasted over 24 hours and created what has been called perhaps the most beautiful aurorae of the solar cycle ! Some was seen as far south as Mexico! Another CME (coronal mass ejection) left the Sun on Sunday, the 1st.
Click here to see an animation of the sunspot moving over the disk.
Click here to see an image of the aurora taken on the 31st.
Click here to see an animation of the CME that left the Sun on the 1st.
March 25, 2001
A coronal mass ejection left the sun on the 25th, and the Earth was buffeted by it the morning of the 27th.
Click here to see an animation from the 25th.
March 19-22, 2001
A coronal mass ejection reached the Earth on the morning of the 19th and continued to cause activity well into the 20th. Aurorae was seen as far south as New York! Another ejection left the Sun after a filament collapsed the 19th and reached the Earth on the 22nd, causing more beautiful aurorae.
Click here to see an animation of the ejection that hit the Earth on the 19th.
Click here to see an image of the aurora from the 19th.
February 28, 2001
Although sunspots are at their lowest level in three months, a filament collapsed on the Sun and sent a coronal mass ejection toward the Earth. The impact reached the Earth on March 3rd, causing faint aurorae at high latitudes on the darker side of the planet. The sunspot number appears to be on the rise again.
Click here to see an animation of the event.
February 15, 2001
A coronal mass ejection raced away from the Sun and was expected to reach the Earth over the weekend. It did not, however. It was most likely a backside event, meaning that it was really heading away from us. In more exciting news, our Sun's magnetic field just recently made its "flip" to the peak of solar maximum , as it has completed half of its solar cycle. By 2012, it will have made it back to the peak of solar minimum !
Click here to see an animation of the ejection.
Click here to learn more about the solar cycle.
February 11-13, 2001
A coronal mass ejection left the Sun early on the morning of the 11th, and let loose some Earth-bound material. This material caused solar disturbances early in the morning on the 13th that lasted until 9 AM. An aurora could have been seen at high latitudes.
Click here to see a zoom shot of the event.
January 28, 2001
A coronal mass ejection erupted from the Sun following a solar flare. No aurora was seen.
Click here to see an image of the eruptions.
January 23, 2001
The shock wave from the ejections that released on the 20th hit the Earth early in the morning, around 5 AM Eastern time. Geomagnetic activity did not reach high levels, but some aurorae were seen.
Click here to see an image taken of the aurora.
January 20, 2001
Two solar flares and a pair of coronal mass ejections left the Sun. The solar material was expected to reach the Earth late on the 22nd or 23rd.
Click here to see an animation of the two ejections.
January 10-14, 2001
On January 10, a solar flare eruption caused a coronal mass ejection to go billowing away from the Sun. This caused an interplanetary shock wave to hit the Earth's magnetosphere early Saturday morning, January 13. Although the conditions were favorable for aurora, the geomagnetic activity was not extensive. On January 14, the collapse of a prominence caused another coronal mass ejection to take place, but this one was directed away from the Earth, so geomagnetic activity was unlikely.
Click here to see animations from the eruptions on the two days.
December 25, 2000
A Christmas Day solar eclipse. The eclipse was only partial, so depending on where it was viewed, the area of the Sun covered varied from 60 to 20%. The last solar eclipse on Christmas Day was in 1954, and the next one will be in 2307. There are at least two solar eclipses a year, with five being the most occuring in one year. (This is extremely rare.)
Click here to see an animation of the solar eclipse.
December 18, 2000
A solar flare erupted from the Sun in the early morning and was followed by a coronal mass ejection. This ejection hit the Earth's magnetosphere on December 21, 2000, causing the interplanetary magnetic field to turn southward .
November 11, 2000
A solar storm similar to the one that took place on July 14, 2000. An extremely powerful solar flare erupted on November 8th, reaching the Earth on November 9th. The coronal mass ejection that follwed the flare hit the Earth's magnetosphere on November 10th, leaving the Earth in a high velocity solar wind stream through November 11th.
Click here to see an animation from the 8th and the 9th.
July 14, 2000
The biggest solar storm since October 1989 took place at about dawn. Eruptions were also spotted two days before that, on July 12th and 13th.
Click here to see an animation of the eruptions from the three days.