GROWING QUIET: A sharp drop in solar activity is expected now that sunspot AR1429 has rotated onto the far side of the sun. No major flares are in the offing this weekend.
CME IMPACT: As expected, the flank of a CME hit Earth's magnetic field on March 15th around 1300 UT. The impact sparked a moderate (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm with perfect timing for sky watchers in New Zealand. "The CME arrived at 2 o'clock in the morning here in Queenstown," says photographer Minoru Yoneto. In the dark, he drove to his favorite spot on a mountain overlooking the city and recorded the storm:

"The auroras danced until sunrise," says Yoneto.
The CME also sparked aurora australis over Antarctica. "Our overwintering at the German Antarctic Research Station Neumayer III has just begun," reports Stefan Christmann. "We were watching a movie when, all of a sudden, our meteorologist coes in with the news. We rushed outside and experienced our first auroras of the season with green and red lights dancing across the moonlit sky."