Latest aurora activity

[Modelworks]

Seems some unlikely events came together to let through a lot of the solar winds without any warning. If something like this occurred during a CME it would be very very bad.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

The reason for the outburst is still not completely clear. It got started on Feb. 14th when a magnetic disturbance rippled around the Arctic Circle. No CME was obvious in local solar wind data at the time; the disturbance just ... happened. Once begun, the disturbance was amplified by the actions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth. The IMF tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetic defenses. Solar wind poured in and fueled the auroras.

 

[William Gaatjes]

There is still a lot of not fully understood mechanisms going on the stellar backyard of the Earth. May be a start of a magnetic pole reversal for the earth ?

 

[William Gaatjes]

I found the correct term :
Geomagnetic excursion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_excursion

This is an interesting and scary thought :

There is evidence that geomagnetic excursions may be associated with episodes of rapid short-term climatic cooling during periods of continental glaciation