As always, The ones who say the world is ending, Sorry, not going to happen, the Christmas 2032 might be Merry, after all. New observations of “city-killer” asteroid 2024 YR4 have ruled out an impact with Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. According to JPL, the odds of a strike have plummeted to a miniscule 0.002% — safer than crossing the street or driving a car.
Space news
A HOLE IN THE SUN’S ATMOSPHERE
Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on March 1st when a stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a large hole in the sun’s atmosphere, now squarely facing Earth
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE
Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X2-class solar flare on Feb. 23rd (1927 UTC). The source was just behind the sun’s northwestern limb–a location that will not allow it to send a CME toward Earth. However, a pulse of extreme UV radiation did cause a shortwave radio blackout over the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARES
Fast-growing sunspot 3981 is directly facing Earth and crackling with strong solar flares. An M8.8-class explosion on Feb 3rd was only percentage points below category X. NOAA forecasters estimate an 85% chance of M-class flares and a 20% chance of full-fledged X-flares on Feb. 4th.