Solar storm erupts

[DeathvadeR]

A strong dose of space weather is forecast to hit Earth Friday, potentially disrupting satellite communications and posing a threat to power grids on Earth. The event also presents a nice opportunity for anyone to view sunspots, though safe viewing techniques must be employed to prevent eye damage

THE STORM of charged particles was unleashed by a dark region on the solar surface called Sunspot 484. The huge spot, about the size of Jupiter’s surface, has been growing for several days and rotating into a position that now points squarely at Earth.

Another giant sunspot is brewing, and more storms could be generated.

<http://www.msnbc.com/news/984388.asp>

[Jakey]

1. Thanks for the heads up...

Followed a link from this story to an animated 24 hour sequence of solar activity....amazing stuff!

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sun_cam_animated.html

[Robin Hood]

9. lol...

"Thanks for the heads up".

That was a knee slapper.

[benfranklin1776]

2. A sunspot the size of the planet Jupiter?!

Is that a record size in the history of observed sunspots? Even if not that is quite noteworthy. Thanks for the heads up!

[Systematic Chaos]

4. Actually it's not even close to a record.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/large_sunspot_000921.html

Here you can read about how the size of sunspots is measured, and just how incredibly big they can be.

http://www.vendian.org/envelope/dir1/earth_jupiter_sun.html

And here you can see just how huge the sun is compared to Jupiter, and how much larger Jupiter is than the earth.

[benfranklin1776]

5. Thanks for the site.

Holy God the 1947 one was almost three times as large. Yikes!

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Do they really know?

At around 11:30 (Eastern time), I heard that the storm was the largest since the middle 1800s.

Upgrade? Error?

Anyway, there should be some good aurora-watching this weekend.

--bkl

[Systematic Chaos]

7. The size of the storm is related to more than...

...just the size of the eruption. It has to be pointed within just a few degrees of earth to be of any consequence. This one was apparently almost a perfect bullseye.

[jus_the_facts]

3. here's a link to a good site.....has lots of additional links on this page

....veeeery interesting stuff :)

www.spaceweather.com

[starroute]

8. And absolutely gorgeous pictures of auroras

They don't make it easy to navigate, but http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/aurora/gallery_01oct03.html will take you to a page of thumbnails for this month, with links to full-sized version, and from there you can click back to last month and so on.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Propagation was good tonight. Didn't need noise blankers on 4 megahertz

[imax2268]

12. That's a wicked picture...!

I remember the one a few years ago...it wiped out my pager and cell phone...which wasn't good because I was driving a delivery truck and all communications between dispatch and my truck were wiped out...needless to say...I didn't make any money that day...

Should be interesting to see what satelites get fried...

[PartyPooper]

11. Here comes the sun!

And, I'll be watching...with my very own special solar protective glasses.

B-)

[sleipnir]

13. Hope this isn't THE BIG ONE

It would suck if we all got fucked by this flare. As a amateur astronomer, the biggest threat posed to Earth are solar flares. If the flare is ultra-intense, we run the risk of it destroying the outer electrical field that shields us from massive amounts UV, solar winds, and many types of nasty "rays." Basically, it'll be one big friggin show that night, but the next day, everything in the light gets fried. Life would cease to exist as we know it, within a matter of weeks. Human survival above ground would be over...Sadly, unlike an Asteroid or Meteor, there's nothing we can do at all, just watch and enjoy our last night...

Let's hope this one isn't THE BIG ONE.

Not to be fatalistic :evilgrin:

[NNN0LHI]

15. Not to sound sceptical, but I never heard of such stuff

If I were to look on Google for more information of this scenario you speak of in your post what key words would you suggest I use? Thanks in advance.

Don

[joe1991]

16. Just put on a dab of s.p.f. # 4000, and you'll be ok

really, nothing to worry 'bout at all.
:)

[colorado_ufo]

20. ROFLMAO!!!

Welcome to DU, joe 1991!

[newyawker99]

22. Hi joe1991!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sleipnir]

18. I understand, skepticism is the best art of science

Sadly, it's the real thing. Look up superflare, and if you want you could include extinction, catostrophic or any other fun words that might describe the end of the world. Here's a page that explains it, and why it hasn't (might) happened yet. These things are RARE, but it could happen.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,21899,00.html

Very similar situation to a mega gamma ray burst from deep in space, but that would be a much quicker death for everything, like 48 hours. Everyone latches onto the Killer Astroids from Outer Space, but they forget about the unseen, deadlier, unstopable dangers.


Sometimes it's fun to fantasize about the annihilation of life on earth :evilgrin:

[Zhade]

14. Well, my workday will be full tomorrow...!

NT!

[gauguin57]

17. auroras

I got to see some aurora activity in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago. I'd always hoped to see it, and wasn't disappointed. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in the sky -- waving bands of red, green, blue. Triggers major euphoria in the viewer!

1) Has anyone seen auroras out there tonight (Thursday -- that's when spaceweather.com said to look for it, but I wasn't out to see it)

2) Does anyone know exactly when we're supposed to look for these auroras? Will they be going on all weekend?

3) Should I unplug my TV?

And BTW: "Let's hope this one isn't THE BIG ONE." Lordy ... lots of Freepers are obsessed with the notion that we're in the "end times." Don't encourage them!

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

19. could be a sign

baybee bush might just get burned by the son

[Rev. Day-Bu]

21. Solar Weather Report

Just FYI, you can check in on the Solar weather (flares, streamers and sunspot activity, etc) anytime courtesy of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA}:

http://www.sec.noaa.gov/forecast.html

You can also check out what kind of auroral activity you might see tonight on the Aurora Cam, updated every 10 minutes:

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/aurora_cam.html