My thanks to an alert reader in Australia and some friends around town.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

This is from Ian in Australia and it explains what I saw:

ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 9
Threshold Reached: 2005 Sep 11 0645 UTC
Synoptic Period: 0600-0900 UTC
Station: Boulder
Active Warning: Yes
NOAA Scale: G5 - Extreme

Yep.
That would cover it.
I wasn’t sure if I was seeing arcs, curtains, bands, coronas, patches, rays or veils.
According to Space.com there is a large sunspot named 798. As the sunspot rotates toward earth we can expect more communication disruptions and heavenly light shows.

The sunspot is just rotating into view, so its energy has been directed sideways and not directly at Earth. In coming days, if more major flares erupt as forecasters expect, they’ll head right at us and radio blackouts, cell phone dropouts and other communications disruptions are more likely, scientists said.

Solar flares send radiation to Earth in about 8 minutes. Hours later, clouds of charged particles can engulf the planet. If the magnetic field of a storm is oriented opposite to our planet’s protective magnetic field, gaps are created and radiation leaks to the planet’s surface, potentially threatening astronauts aboard the International Space Station, sometimes shorting out satellites, and even causing terrestrial power grids to trip.

I can understand why people that don’t have access to the science of magnetic fields and storms would have to put meaning to the aurora borealis. In lower laitudes where they appear less often they were seen as warnings of disaster or great dangers such as an oncoming war, death, or famine. Some cultures saw them as a sign of royal birth and others as the breath of dragons. Canadian Inuit believed the lights were torches held by spirits to light the way for souls that had died violent deaths.

There have been seven major flares in recent days, including a tremendous X-17 eruption Wednesday. An event Friday evening was an X-6. On Saturday, an X-1 and an X-2 erupted. Even an X-1 can cause severe disruptions.

The largest flare in modern times was recorded in November 2003 and was estimated to be an X-40. It, too, was on the limb of the Sun and so its full impact was not felt on Earth. That flare was part of an unprecedented series of 10 major flares within two weeks; at least one Earth-orbiting satellite was disabled and one instrument aboard a Mars-orbiting craft was knocked offline.

This week’s series is the most impressive since then.

Each storm is different, and often solar activity goes unnoticed on Earth, depending on whether a storm hits us square or makes a glancing blow and what the magnetic orientation is.

If enough storms erupt, the odds go up that there will be effects here. And the likelihood of Earth taking one directly on the chin goes up with each passing day as the sunspot takes aim.

There is a 75 percent chance of more X-class flares each day through Tuesday, the SEC says.

Knowing the science gives me an opportunity to step away from work, the computer, and spend a bit more time outside watching the glory of His heavens the next few days.