The Carrington event …

Geomagnetic storms, caused by violent solar flares that emit vast amounts of electromagnetic particle radiation, can generate shock waves in Earth's magnetic field.  Not only are they responsible for the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis but they also have the potential to cause great destruction.  The biggest solar storm ever occurred in 1859 and is known as the Carrington event, named after the British astronomer Richard Carrington. The Carrington event is estimated to have been twice as powerful as anything else we have experienced, and if it occurred today would probably wreak havoc with satellite communications (and hence GPS) and even cut electricity across whole continents for extended periods of time. 

Well, it wasn’t exactly Carrington-like but a couple of weeks ago a geomagnetic storm treated us to a magnificent display of the Aurora Australis. The aurora was visible from Cracroft Farm, although it did lead to some interesting philosophical debate. At first, the sky was a curtain of cascading white and the vibrant colours of the aurora were only visible through the iPhone camera lens, a fact that prompted to Cath to argue that if you can’t see it with the naked eye, then it isn’t real.  I think this was position was due more to frustration than to some radical form of philosophical scepticism that denies the possibility of all knowledge, or even Aristotle’s view that sense perception and observation are essential for knowledge. Luckily, however, the aurora became so strong that some colour, particularly a beautiful pink, became clearly visible to the naked eye. It was the first time that either of us had seen the aurora so it was a cracker of way to start.

 

 The Aurora Australis taken from Cracroft Farm

The awesome display of the southern lights has now been replaced by very foggy mornings with little or no visibility until lunch time. The iconic mountain that dominates the head of the Huon Valley, known locally as Sleeping Beauty, has had her first dusting of snow signifying that the cold weather has well and truly arrived. Our log fire has been burning away and I have entered the phase of anxiously estimating whether I have stockpiled enough wood to last the winter.

 

Sleeping Beauty

One of the factors that mitigate the morning cold and the fog is that the late afternoon is usually spectacular. The sky goes a rosy pink and the Huon River very often looks like glass. 

 

 Taken just before noon

 

 Taken just before 5pm

Away from geomagnetic storms and winter weather, we are still waiting with bated breath to see if one of our goats produces a kid. She is getting fatter by the day but as of today there is no movement. Our goats are very engaging creatures and now wait for us every morning knowing that they receive their goat nuts after we have fed the chickens.

Clover finding a new way to get at the goat nuts

While we are waiting for new life on one hand, we have had another tragedy on the other. Last Friday Cath and I were out for the day and on our return, we discovered that one of our chickens was missing. A search revealed a pile of feathers and a carcass in the corner of our top paddock, evidence of yet another lightening raid by a bird of prey. Close to the carnage I found a large dark-coloured feather (nearly 45 cm in length) which we think belonged to a wedge-tail eagle,  maybe a tail or wingtip feather. Yet another chapter in our sorry history of poultry management ...

 The evidence