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Post by Steve on Mar 7, 2012 11:40:53 GMT -6
This handout image provided by NASA shows a solar flare heading toward Earth. (AP Photo - NASA) From Associated Press March 07, 2012 11:47 AM EST WASHINGTON (AP) — An impressive solar flare is heading toward Earth and could disrupt power grids, satellite navigating systems and airplane flights. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said the sun erupted Tuesday evening and the effects should start smacking Earth late Wednesday night, close to midnight EST (0500 GMT). They say it is the biggest in five years and growing. The magnetic storm has the potential to trip electrical power grids. Its radio emissions can disrupt global positioning systems to make them less accurate. It also could damage satellites. Scientists said communication problems and radiation from the storm will probably force airplanes to avoid flying over the north and south poles. Colorful auroras may be more visible.
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Post by skywalker on Mar 7, 2012 15:31:18 GMT -6
Lots of solar activity lately.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2012 11:11:05 GMT -6
This is the biggest so far..but it's only getting started.
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Post by auntym on Mar 8, 2012 12:05:27 GMT -6
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SOLAR_STORM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTMar 8, 12:53 PM EST Biggest solar storm in years hits, so far so good[/color] By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of the strongest solar storms in years engulfed Earth early Thursday, but scientists say the planet may have lucked out. Hours after the storm arrived, officials said were no reports of problems with power grids, GPS, satellites or other technologies that are often disrupted by solar storms. But that still can change as the storm shakes the planet's magnetic field in ways that could disrupt technology but also spread colorful Northern Lights. Early indications show that it is about 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits Earth. The storm started with a massive solar flare Tuesday evening and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. The charged particles were expected to hit at 4 million mph. The storm struck about 6 a.m. EST in a direction that causes the least amount of problems, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. "It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," he said. Forecasters can predict the speed a solar storm travels and its strength, but the north-south orientation is the wild card. And this time, Earth got dealt a good card with a northern orientation, which is "pretty benign," Kunches said. If it had been southern, that would have caused the most damaging technological disruption and biggest auroras. "We're not out of the woods," Kunches said Thursday morning. "It was a good start. If I'm a power grid, I'm really happy so far." But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said. "It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come," Kunches said from the NOAA forecast center in Boulder, Colo. North American utilities so far have not reported any problems, said Kimberly Mielcarek, spokeswoman for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a consortium of electricity grid operators CONTINUE READING: hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SOLAR_STORM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTNOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: www.swpc.noaa.govNASA on solar flare: www.nasa.gov/mission-pages/sunearth/news/News030712-X1.5.html
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Post by auntym on Mar 9, 2012 13:55:57 GMT -6
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120308-solar-flare-storm-sun-space-weather-science-why/?source=link_tw20120308news-solarstormSolar Storm: Why It Fizzled ... for NowMagnetism is one reason current sun storm has been relatively harmless. Jason Major for National Geographic News Published March 8, 2012 Given the sheer power of this week's solar flares—and NASA's warning of a potentially severe geomagnetic storm, with potential disruptions of power grids, GPS, and communications—the sun storm striking us Thursday has been surprisingly soft. And for good reason, solar physicist Alex Young explains. (Also see: "Solar Flare: What If Biggest Known Sun Storm Hit Today?") Though scientists say the storm may still intensify as Friday approaches, the storm level is still at the G1 level—"minor" on the space-weather scale. "At that level, the effects will be fairly minimal," said Young, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "Nothing that would actually cause any problems." The solar storm's gentler-than-expected treatment of Earth so far has a lot to do with the direction the storm was traveling when it hit our planet's magnetic field, explained Young, who works on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory project. "The Earth's magnetic field has a northward direction to it," he said. There's also a magnetic direction to each solar storm, or coronal mass ejection (CME)—a burst of charged solar particles expelled from the sun the sun by the "snapping" of magnetic fields. If, as with the current sun storm, a CME's magnetic field points northward, its interaction with Earth's magnetic field can be weakened—"the two are both pointed in the same direction," Young said. "But if they're opposite each other—if the [storm's] magnetic field is southward—then there's a much stronger interaction. It allows much more energy to be pumped into Earth's magnetosphere." (Related: "Biggest Solar Storm in Eight Years Now Pummeling Earth.") Stronger Solar Storms to Come? Despite today's less-than-apocalyptic showing, we're not totally in the clear, Young said. The outbursts that spark CMEs typically occur at sunspots, magnetically turbulent regions that look dark because they're relatively cool, compared with the surrounding region—6,000ºF (3,300ºC) versus 10,000ºF (5,500ºC). CONTINUE READING: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120308-solar-flare-storm-sun-space-weather-science-why/?source=link_tw20120308news-solarstorm
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Post by paulette on Mar 10, 2012 11:01:16 GMT -6
We went out last night and stared up to the north. There were clouds on the horizon and stars showing directly overhead but....no lights. I really hoped we'd catch them.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2012 12:30:53 GMT -6
We went out last night and stared up to the north. There were clouds on the horizon and stars showing directly overhead but....no lights. I really hoped we'd catch them. I didn't see anything either Paulette... when I was driving dad home from the clinic I saw Mars, but it wasn't dark enough yet to see the other stars. I fell asleep shortly after we got home and I wheeled dad into the house so...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2012 10:07:50 GMT -6
Lorelei..how did it go with your dad at the ER? Hip fracture? I'm getting realllllly tired of these solar hits..they make me so cranky and half of humanity
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2012 11:48:46 GMT -6
Lorelei..how did it go with your dad at the ER? Hip fracture? I'm getting realllllly tired of these solar hits..they make me so cranky and half of humanity Maybe that's why I've been so cranky lately too... Dad didn't go to the ER. The RN at the dialysis clinic used to work at the ER and he said all they would do is give him pain medicine and tell him to go see an orthopedic doctor... make him a referral and that's it because it's not an emergency. We're going to see our doctor today... mom made an appointment for him on Thursday and I'm getting ready to take him in... hopefully they won't put him in the hospital again he's sick and tired of that already...
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