GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2): Yesterday, an X1.6-class solar flare (movie) hurled a CME toward Earth. The bulk of the cloud is expected to pass north of our planet, with its southern flank delivering a glancing blow late on May 5th. Moderately strong G2-class geomagnetic storms are possible after the CME arrives. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

SPACEX SPIRAL SIGHTED DURING GEOMAGNETIC STORM: On the evening of May 2nd, sky watchers in Europe went outside to observe the fading glow of a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm. "I was looking for aurora borealis after sunset, when suddenly a bright yellow object appeared near Polaris," reports Gabriel Murawski from Dusia Lake, Lithuania. It was a SpaceX spiral:

 

Earlier the same day, SpaceX launched a pair of Earth observation satellites from California onboard a Falcon 9 rocket (May 2nd @ 1836 UTC). After deploying the satellites, the Falcon 9's second stage performed a de-orbit burn; a bit of spin twisted the exhaust into a glowing spiral.

"It looked amazing!" says Murawski. "The spiral gliding next to the violet aurora borealis made a spectacular scene."

Spirals are an increasingly routine by-product of SpaceX operations, with many recent Falcon 9 launches creating them. Similar swirls have been photographed over Norway, New Zealand, east Africa, Hawaii, and most famous of all, this specimen over Alaska. If you haven't seen one yet, it may be just a matter of time.

more images: from Petr Horálek of Zahorice, Czech Republic; from Andrzej Błoński of Subcarpathia, Poland;