As I suspected, the flare came from AR3664, which has nearly rotated out of view of Earth. Probably aren't going to see any aurora from this flare. X8.8 is still impressive though. I wish the sun had been clear for me to see it (and take pics of it).
Managed to catch a just-shy-of-X1-class flare a few hours ago when I put my scope out on the deck.
The complex chaos of magnetic fields — that is much, much larger than the size of Earth — designated as Region 3664 and Region 3668 (center right sunspot smudge) has been spawning a great number of flares recently, flinging an truly stupendous amount of energy and relativistic particles out into the solar system.
So some of that stupendous amount of energy and particles that Region 3664 kicked off earlier in the week is projected to arrive here on Friday night, causing a G2 geomagnetic storm.
If you live up dare in da north and it's clear out where you are (and you have a sufficiently dark sky), I highly suggest stepping outside and looking for some possible aurora in the sky. The viewline dips as far south as Chicago.
I want to establish extra urgency to anyone living in the Seattle and (less so) Vancouver area. The weather forecast is going to be about perfect for tonight. Almost no clouds.
YOU ARE IN A PRIME AURORA VIEWING REGION. DRIVE OUT TO A DARK SKY LOCATION LATE TONIGHT (12-2AM) AND WATCH THE SHOW!!
(I have an old friend out there and I'm honestly tempted to fly out there just for tonight)
Also, much of Minnesota, including Minneapolis/St. Paul, will have prime viewing too! Anyone that lives up there should go out at around 12-2AM tonight.
THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!
I haven't been paying attention to solar activity until recently, but I get the impression that a G4 storm is kind of a big deal that doesn't happen that often. That one is happening on a Friday night is even less likely. This is probably your best chance at seeing aurora short of traveling above the Arctic Circle.
Been working outside this afternoon so I can babysit my telescope while it takes a set of pics. The sun kicked off a big flare last night, so I was hoping it'd be active today and make for a good timelapse, but so far it's been relatively boring. Basically no flare activity.
At least I'm actually getting some work done out here for once lol
Get a #solar H-alpha scope of you're really into #astrophotography. It's an investment, but it gives you something to do when the weather isn't favorable for dark sky stuff. It's a slightly different skillset to learn and will keep things varied.
Plus, the sun is really fucking awesome. Especially for the next few years as we hit the solar maximum. The sun is different every day you look at it. If you're lucky you might catch a flare or some other transient event.
It's hard to see on the picture of the preview on my laptop, but there is an elongated smudge spraying out of the sunspot. I think it's been moving and changing shape, but it's slow and the atmospheric turbulence makes it hard to keep track of what's going on.
I'm trying to do work out here, but this is too fucking cool.