Space weather- halley's meteor shower, geomagnetic unrest
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METEORS FROM HALLEY'S COMET: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on the night of May 5-6 with as many as 60 meteors per hour in the southern hemisphere and half that number in the north. No matter where you live, the best time to look is during the dark hours before local sunrise on May 6th. [photo gallery] [meteor radar]
GEOMAGNETIC UNREST: Sky watchers around the Arctic Circle were surprised this morning, May 4th, when the twilight sky lit up with bands of green. "It was far from dark when the auroras appeared," says Ronny Tertnes, who sends this picture from Bergen, Norway:

What caused this geomagnetic unrest? The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and ignited the surprise display, bright enough to pierce the Spring twilight around the Arctic Circle.
More auroras could be in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on May 4-5 as the IMF continues to tip south. Aurora alerts: text, voice