Viewing archive of Thursday, 8 January 2015
Select the desired archive item
Reports
Solar activity
Auroral activity
Surprise G3 geomagnetic storm, low solar activity
Yesterday we experienced a strong G3 geomagnetic storm (as reported by the NOAA SWPC, Wing-Kp reached Kp7-) with impressive auroral displays over Australia, New Zealand and the upper United States. Our header image comes from Tom Luttrell who managed to capture this shot of the Aurora Australis as seen from Tasmania during sunset! It was not even 100% dark yet! Amazing! Cause of this display which was perfectly timed for sky watchers in Australia and New Zealand was the direction of the IMF that went as low as -21nT during the morning UTC hours of 7 January and stayed that low for several hours. The geomagnetic field responded with several periods where we reached the geomagnetic storm threshold. The direction of the IMF (Bz) turned north around 12 UTC and the geomagnetic storm quickly subsided. Only high latitude sky watchers could still enjoy an occasional auroral display but geomagnetic storming is unlikely.
Latest news
M2.7 solar flare, CME arrival possible
Complex sunspot region 4366
CME impact! S4 solar radiation storm
Latest forum messages
More topicsSupport SpaceWeatherLive.com!
A lot of people come to SpaceWeatherLive to follow the Solar activity or if there is a chance to see the aurora, but with more traffic comes higher costs to keep the servers online. If you like SpaceWeatherLive and want to support the project you can choose a subscription for an ad-free site or consider a donation. With your help we can keep SpaceWeatherLive online!
Space weather facts
| Last X-flare | 2026/02/04 | X4.21 |
| Last M-flare | 2026/03/28 | M1.3 |
| Last geomagnetic storm | 2026/03/25 | Kp5+ (G1) |
| Spotless days | |
|---|---|
| Last 365 days | 3 days |
| 2026 | 3 days (3%) |
| Last spotless day | 2026/02/24 |
| Monthly mean Sunspot Number | |
|---|---|
| February 2026 | 78.2 -34.3 |
| March 2026 | 84 +5.8 |
| Last 30 days | 84 +6.2 |