The Sun Has Been Angry

We're in Solar Maximum.  That means the sun is angry. This week we've seen about 3 flares.  Tonight was a little powerful.

Multiple flares hit the Earth.

I looked at Facebook and got the notice that auroras were visible in Kansas.

I ran outside and was able to get one with the phone.  

We went to the darker part of the neighborhood and could actually see it with the naked eye.  A big splotch of red in the sky and a glowing light on the horizon.

The lines you see going horizontal are planes.  The vertical ones are called pillars. 

Aurora

Started hearing about several CME's coming to Earth on Thursday.  A CME is a Coronal Mass Ejection or think of like the sun throwing up at you in zero gravity. It's coming at you, may take a day or two to get there, but it's going to hit and nothing you can do about it. Just like bad State Fair food, it happened multiple times.

The next images are from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

We may get conditions like this once a couple decades. This was an extreme case and we are in solar maximum so the sun is a little more temperamental than normal. 

It's heading to the end of the school year and I'm usually exhausted by Fridays but had to go out.

I hit west of Walton, Kansas by 5 miles and found a lone dirt highway. 

Immediately I saw a slight red tinge to the sky and what looked like upper level clouds. I'll leave the camera magic to show you.

I thought the green Mass was a lower cloud reflecting light from Emporia.

Suddenly, it was like the aurora dissipated and the stars came out.

camera shots 3.5 Fstop, 20 second exposure, broken tripod (don't ask).

I hope to see them very visible someday in Iceland, Northern Europe, or Alaska. Needless to say, this was an experience..