Latest news with #GOES-19
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sun unleashes jaw-dropping filament eruption — but Earth dodges the blast (photo)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A massive solar filament erupted today (May 7), producing a stunning display that spanned the sun's eastern limb and reached deep into the solar disk. Filaments are cooler, dense ribbons of solar plasma that can hang suspended above the sun's surface by magnetic fields, according to NOAA. When these become unstable, they can erupt dramatically, sometimes launching coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space — powerful blasts of solar plasma and magnetic fields that can trigger geomagnetic storms here on Earth. However, in today's eruption, the filament was oriented away from Earth, meaning it will have no direct impact on our planet. "The sun is doing just enough to show that it still has what it takes to produce activity while also dodging Earth at all costs," space weather forecaster Sara Housseal wrote in a post on X. The image was captured in remarkable detail by NOAA's GOES-19 spacecraft using its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) telescope called the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) between around 6:30 a.m. EDT and 9:50 a.m. EDT (1030 and 1350 GMT). SUVI watched as the eruptive prominence showcased the sun's dynamic behavior in incredible detail. Although this eruption won't affect Earth, forecasters are still keeping a close eye on solar activity this week. According to the UK Met Office, a combination of a weakening high-speed solar wind stream and possible glancing blows from previous CMEs could trigger auroras at high latitudes late Wednesday (May 7) or early Thursday (May 8), with another chance on Friday (May 9) when another high-speed solar wind stream is expected to strike. Together, these space weather events could produce Minor Geomagnetic Storm (G1) conditions, meaning the aurora could become visible in northern parts of Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and other high-latitude regions. You can keep up to date with the latest northern lights forecasts, alerts and geomagnetic storm warnings with our aurora forecast live blog.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA video of puzzling 'orb' soaring past sun sparks 'crazy' UFOs theories from viewers
A NASA video of a puzzling 'orb' soaring past the sun has been captured. The footage has sparked some 'crazy' UFOs theories from viewers who spotted the strange object. NASA released the video of the sun which has since gone viral after it showed a large 'orb' traveling past. This has captured the imagination of viewers with some conspiracy theorists claiming that it could be a UFO. This has been argued due to the fact that the object 'stopped, hovered for a bit, moved closer to the sun' and then disappeared completely. Many people have taken to social media to share their own reactions to the video. While some speculated that the orb could be the moon, one user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: 'Bro that's not the moon. I was watching the moon in the sky and it didn't do this.' Another said, 'I wonder if that was the cause of this', sharing an article of the recent power outages in Spain and Portugal. And a third person added: 'I guess we'll just have to settle for no answers — and watch this get swept under the rug, just like the obvious UAPs we see every day.' The video in question was captured on Sunday (April 27) from the GOES-19 satellite's CCOR-1 instrument, which is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The purpose of the shot was to record solar activity happening last week and it's bad news for UFO fans, because it looks like there is a rational explanation for the 'orb'. While it was always highly likely that the object would simply be space debris or an instrument artifact rather than extraterrestrial life, it looks like it isn't either of those things. Instead, it was the moon eclipsing the sun in 'lunar transit', which is something that is only visible in space. NASA has been closely monitoring the sun's activity as it reached its solar maximum which is the time where it experiences its greatest solar activity. The surge has resulted in solar storms and made the northern and southern lights visible in places where they are not usually spotted so easily. Now that the sun has reached the end of its 11-year cycle, its magnetic field will flip, beginning its shift toward solar minimum, which hasn't happened since 2013. It's not immediate but instead is a gradual transition, as Ryan French, who is a solar astrophysicist and contributing writer, spoke to and said: 'In short, there is no specific 'moment' in which the sun's poles flip. It's not like the Earth, where the flip is measured by the migration of the North/South pole.'
Arabian Post
25-04-2025
- Climate
- Arabian Post
Satellite Imagery Reveals Ferocious Dust Storm Sweeping Across New Mexico
A formidable dust storm, propelled by powerful winds, surged across southern New Mexico and western Texas on April 19, 2025, significantly reducing visibility and disrupting daily life. The event was captured in striking detail by NOAA's GOES-19 satellite, providing meteorologists and scientists with valuable data on the storm's dynamics. The storm was driven by a cold front that generated wind gusts reaching up to 58 mph in El Paso, Texas. In Carlsbad, New Mexico, visibility plummeted to a mere quarter-mile as the airborne dust enveloped the area. Satellite imagery revealed the dust plume moving at speeds up to 35 knots across northern Mexico, illustrating the storm's rapid progression and extensive reach. This meteorological phenomenon, known as a haboob, occurs when strong winds lift large amounts of dust and sand into the atmosphere, creating a dense wall of particulates that can travel vast distances. The storm's intensity and scale were notable, with the dust cloud extending across state lines and impacting multiple communities. The implications of such dust storms are multifaceted. Beyond the immediate hazards to transportation and health due to reduced air quality, these events can have longer-term environmental effects. The transported dust can influence weather patterns and contribute to soil erosion, affecting agriculture and ecosystems. In an unusual development, the dust from this storm was carried over 2,000 miles to New England, resulting in a phenomenon known as 'dirty rain.' As the dust-laden air mass moved northeast, it combined with precipitation, depositing a layer of dust on surfaces across several states, including Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Meteorologists noted that while such occurrences are rare, they underscore the interconnectedness of atmospheric systems.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The newest GOES weather satellite in NOAA's fleet is now fully operational (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The final satellite in NOAA's GOES-R weather satellite series has a new place in orbit … and a new name. The GOES-19 weather satellite, which launched into orbit in June 2024, has officially taken the place of its predecessor GOES-16 to watch over the Western Hemisphere from its perch 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above us. To mark the milestone, the satellite has the new name of GOES East to serve as the dominant geostationary satellite in the fleet, NOAA officials said in a statement. "With GOES-19 now in operation, NOAA has delivered the full fleet of GOES-R satellites to orbit, providing the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to help forecast weather on Earth," said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, in the statement. "GOES-19 supports NOAA's mission to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information to promote and protect the nation's security, environment, economy and quality of life." As GOES East, the satellite will be responsible for keeping a watchful eye on tropical development in the Atlantic Ocean, and monitor weather such as severe storms, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers. Just like its siblings, GOES-19 is equipped with technology to produce high-resolution imagery, take measurements of the atmosphere, and track the location and intensity of lightning in real-time. If that's not exciting enough for scientists, this satellite also hosts NOAA's first compact coronagraph instrument (CCOR-1), monitoring the sun's activity. "CCOR-1 is a game-changer for ensuring our nation is resilient to solar storms, monitoring massive eruptions of energy from the sun in real time," Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, said in the statement. "With dramatically improved resolution and faster detection, it helps us better predict dangerous space weather that can impact satellites, GPS, astronaut safety, aviation and power grids, ensuring we can protect critical technology and infrastructure like never before."
CBS News
09-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Next-gen NOAA weather satellite giving meteorologists big forecasting edge
After launching in June 2024, a brand new weather satellite is finally up and running. "I don't know what the right word is, but it sort of, it completes something I've been working on my entire career," said Dan Lindsey, the GOES-R program scientist at NOAA. GOES-19 began its trip to space last summer and since then, scientists like Lindsey, who oversee the program, have been making sure it's ready to go. "They have to make sure it's pointing in the right direction. It has to make sure that everything is lined up the way we want. And then all seven of those instruments have to be individually tested. They're turned on. Their sample data is collected," Lindsey said. With those tests going smoothly, GOES-19 is officially watching over us as GOES-East. Many of the instruments on board, like the advanced baseline imager and lightning mapper look down at storms on earth, creating various loops helping NEXT Weather meteorologists prepare your forecasts. But this satellite has an extra tool: the compact coronagraph. That looks up at the sun to help track solar storms, which give us the beautiful northern lights, but can also cause radio blackouts and power outages. "It sort of blocks out the sun itself and allows us to take pictures of that corona. And that allows us to detect these coronal mass ejections and predict when they're going to impact the Earth," Lindsey said. He says all of last year's solar storms were perfect for testing. And even with all the buzz around this new gadget, there's already a lot of hype about what's next to improve weather forecasting. "The future series is called GeoXO, or Geostationary Extended Observations, launching in 2032. We're going to go from two spacecraft to three, and add some new instrumentation and also make some improvements to our existing imager and lightning mapper capabilities," Lindsey said. This new satellite will help meteorologists track hurricanes, thunderstorms and winter storms well into the 2030s until the next generation of satellites are ready to go.
