An “extreme” geomagnetic storm, resulting from yesterday morning’s massive X17 solar flare, is still in progress. Last night, auroras were seen as far south as Georgia, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma — and tonight could be a repeat performance. The planetary K-index remains at its highest level, 9, and Northern lights are being seen right now in England and Ireland, according to SpaceWeather.com.

Meanwhile, another extremely strong solar flare — this one rated X11 — erupted today, creating the potential for spooky Halloween auroras!

UPDATE: The ongoing space storm has disrupted a Japanese satellite.

The BCS is un-American. If college football doesn’t adopt a playoff system, we’ll be letting the terrorists win! :)

The coronal mass ejection produced by yesterday morning’s enormous solar flare has reached the Earth. It hit at roughly 1:30 AM Eastern. A strong geomagnetic storm is now underway, with Northern lights seen as far south as central California, according to SpaceWeather.com, which promises further updates.

A map of auroral activity as of 3:14 AM EST. (Hmm… it doesn’t look like there are any auroras in California…)

Unfortunately, it’s cloudy and rainy here in Connecticut (where I arrived around 2:30 AM, having left NYC with my mom shortly after midnight). The only “Northern lights” we can see from my house are from the light dome of Hartford, illuminating the clouds. :( Oh, well.