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Post by Watchman on Dec 7, 2006 15:50:12 GMT -5
by Staff Writers Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Dec 07, 2006
Russia's geophysical forecast center said Wednesday it expects powerful solar flares, vast explosions in the sun's atmosphere around sunspots, to occur in the near future. Solar flares can expel billion-ton clouds of electrified gas or plasma into space at a speed of 1 million miles per hour. Eruptions from the sun can damage satellites and disrupt electrical and communications systems on Earth.
"An X9 solar flare was registered last Tuesday. Over 30 years of regular X-ray observations of the sun, only about 25 powerful flares have been registered, and they had never previously been observed in the solar minimum [the lowest point of the sun's 11-year activity cycle]. This is surprising, because normally such flares occur at the peak of the sun's activity," the center said.
Source: RIA Novosti
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czygyny
Contributing Member
Ears to hear!
Gardening in Babylon
Posts: 6
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Post by czygyny on Dec 7, 2006 18:03:33 GMT -5
This link takes you to the SOHO website where you can see the sun in action. If you view it soon enough (Dec. 7) you will see the radiation affecting the images in the blue and red circles bottom right. This website is a fascinating peek at our sun and surrounding area. If you visit it enough, you will also occasionally see anomalous images of 'somethings' moving very fast here and there, and sometimes pale, blurry, light, donut shaped images, and things headed into the sun itself. Very thought provoking! sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html
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Post by Watchman on Dec 14, 2006 16:17:42 GMT -5
New Forecast: Severe Space Storm Headed to Earth By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer
Editor's Note: This forecast replaces the predictive aspects of this earlier story on the solar flare.
Space weather forecasters revised their predictions for storminess after a major flare erupted on the Sun overnight threatening damage to communication systems and power grids while offering up the wonder of Northern Lights.
"We're looking for very strong, severe geomagnetic storming" to begin probably around mid-day Thursday, Joe Kunches, Lead Forecaster at the NOAA Space Environment Center, told SPACE.com this afternoon.
The storm is expected to generate aurora or Northern Lights, as far south as the northern United States Thursday night. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are not expected to be put at additional risk, Kunches said.
Radio communications, satellites and power grids could face potential interruptions or damage, however.
Solar flares send radiation to Earth within minutes. Some are also accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CME), clouds of charged particles that arrive in a day or two. This flare unleashed a strong CME that's aimed squarely at Earth.
"It's got all the right stuff," Kunches said.
However, one crucial component to the storm is unknown: its magnetic orientation. If it lines up a certain way with Earth's magnetic field, then the storm essentially pours into our upper atmosphere. If the alignment is otherwise, the storm can pass by the planet with fewer consequences.
Kunches and his team are advising satellite operators and power grid managers to keep an eye on their systems. In the past, CMEs have knocked out satellites and tripped terrestrial power grids. Engineers have learned to limit switching at electricity transfer stations, and satellite operators sometimes reduce operations or make back-up plans in case a craft is damaged.
Another aspect of a CME involves protons that get pushed along by the shock wave. Sometimes these protons break through Earth's protective magnetic field and flood the outer reaches of the atmosphere—where the space station orbits—with radiation. The science of it all is a gray area, Kunches said. But the best guess now is that there will only be a slight increase in proton activity. That's good news for the astronauts.
"When the shock goes by, we don't expect significant radiation issues," he said.
The astronauts were ordered to a protective area of the space station as a precaution last night.
Now that sunspot number 930 has flared so significantly—after several days of being quiet—the forecast calls for a "reasonble chance" of more major flares in coming days, Kunches said.
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Post by berean on Dec 14, 2006 17:57:19 GMT -5
thank you for the SOHO link. It is 'cool'.
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