SPACE WEATHER FACT CHECK: Many readers are asking about a report in the   
   Washington Examiner, which states that a Carrington-class solar storm narrowly   
   missed Earth two weeks ago. There was no Carrington-class solar storm two   
   weeks ago. On the contrary, solar activity was low throughout the month of   
   July. The report is erroneous. The possibility of such a storm is, however,   
   worth thinking about: A modern Carrington event would cause significant damage   
   to our high-tech society. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.   
       
   FIRST PERSEIDS OF 2013 (Updated): Earth is entering a broad stream of debris   
   from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower.   
   Although the shower won't peak until August 12-13, when Earth hits the densest   
   part of the stream, the first Perseids are already arriving. "Despite poor   
   weather over our network of meteor cameras, we have detected six Perseid   
   fireballs since July 30th," reports Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid   
   Environment Office. He made this plot showing the orbits of the meteoroids:   
       
   http://tinyurl.com/kyocfq6   
       
   In the diagram, the green lines trace the orbits of Perseid meteoroids. All   
   six intersect Earth (the blue dot). The orbit of the parent comet is   
   color-coded purple. An inset shows one of the fireballs shining almost as   
   brightly as the Moon.   
       
   The shower is just getting started. Rates should remain low for the next week   
   as Earth penetrates the sparse outskirts of the debris stream, then skyrocket   
   to ~100 meteors per hour as the calendar turns to the second week of August.   
   Stay tuned for more fireballs. [meteor radar] [NASA: Perseid fireballs].   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.94   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)