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  • solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

    this seems like a fairly 'hot issue' - wot?

    from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...079716926.html

    Originally posted by wsj/
    Associated Press

    WASHINGTON—The largest solar storm in five years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights.

    Massive solar flares that erupted this week on the sun may result in the largest solar storm on earth in five years. (Video: Raw footage from Reuters)


    The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start smacking Earth between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. They say the storm, which started with a massive solar flare, is growing as it speeds outward from the sun.
    Previously




    "It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He called it the sun's version of "Super Tuesday."
    Scientists say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity.
    "This is a good-size event, but not the extreme type," said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator for the space weather center.
    The solar storm is likely to last through Friday morning, but the region that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Mr. Kunches said. He said another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth right after this.
    But for now, scientists are waiting to see what happens Thursday when the charged particles hit Earth at four million mph.
    NASA solar physicist Alex Young added, "It could give us a bit of a jolt." But he said this is far from a super solar storm.
    The storm is coming after an earlier and weaker solar eruption happened Sunday, Mr. Kunches said. The latest blast of particles will probably arrive slightly later than forecasters first thought.
    That means for North America the "good" part of a solar storm—the one that creates more noticeable auroras or Northern Lights—will peak Thursday evening. Auroras could dip as far south as the Great Lakes states or lower, Mr. Kunches said, but a full moon will make them harder to see.
    Auroras are "probably the treat we get when the sun erupts," Mr. Kunches said.
    But there is potential for widespread problems. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation when all three types of solar-storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Mr. Kunches said.
    That means "a whole host of things" could follow, he said.
    The magnetic part of the storm has the potential to trip electrical power grids. Mr. Kunches said utility companies around the world have been alerted. The timing and speed of the storm determines whether it knocks off power grids, he said.
    In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing six million people to lose power.
    Solar storms can also make global positioning systems less accurate, which is mostly a problem for precision drilling and other technologies, Mr. Kunches said. There also could be GPS outages.
    The storm also can cause communication problems and added radiation around the north and south poles, which will probably force airlines to reroute flights. Some already have done so, Mr. Kunches said.
    Satellites could be affected, too. NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the space agency isn't taking any extra precautions to protect astronauts on the International Space Station from added radiation.
    so... guess this one is along the lines of: 'existential threat' or ELE ?
    or just use number60 sunscreen?

  • #2
    Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

    Originally posted by lektrode View Post
    so... guess this one is along the lines of: 'existential threat' or ELE ?
    or just use number60 sunscreen?
    seriously?

    its more along the lines of "Oh, I missed a Northern lights show last night. Oh well, I'll catch the next one"

    "Knowing" it is not :P

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

      Solar storms cause the northern ( and southern ) lights in high latitudes. In California, being at a moderately low latitude, and away westward from the longitude of the northern magnetic-pole near Banks Island in the Arctic Ocean, the occurrence of such lights is exceedingly rare.

      In central California, during the great solar storm of the late 1990s, either in 1998 or 1999, I did see the northern-lights well past mid-night on two occasions. The lights made an arc of light (a glow) across the northern horizon. The glow looked like the first twilight of a sunrise, or last twilight of a sunset. The glow was not moon-glow on those two occasions.

      When I lived in Edmonton, Alberta, the northern lights would dance around over-head on half of the nights of the year. And the northern lights would do their arc thingy across the northern horizon, too.

      Colorado Springs, because it was in the right longitude due south of the northern magnetic-pole, would have northern lights on several nights out of the year. Minneapolis-St. Paul would have the lights about twice per year. Duluth would have the lights about five times per year. Winnipeg had the lights on several occasions throughout the year, maybe 30 or 40 nights per year. But Edmonton was best, with about 100 nights per year of visible northern lights sometime during the night provided that the sky was clear.... As I say, central California had visible northern lights about twice in my lifetime of 60+ years. On those extra-ordinary occasions the northern lights did their arc thingy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

        This storm is a big one, but for people on the ground the impact should be more or less negligible.

        However, if you're flying any international air flights, I'd seriously consider postponement. Potential exposure could be 20x more, though probably not quite that high.

        We're talking Fukushima Dai-ichi on site in April 2011 type levels.

        This is why flights that go over/near the North Pole are rerouting.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

          Wonderful I am flying tonight, should I take along a sextant incase the Pilot gets lost due to electronic malfunctions?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

            I almost forgot about the Forbush decrease, less cosmic rays due to the magnetic field of the CME itself.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

              By the way, for aurora lovers, on one occasion the northern lights have been seen at Mexico City, D.F. La Cuidad de Mexico esta 19.4 degrees norte. (19.4 N.)

              Ha una ocasion, cuando las luces del norte (la aurora) habia vistado sobre la Valle de Mexico en el Districto Federal.

              Needless to say, the capital of Mexico is in the best longitude to view the aurora, although its latitude is so far south (so low) as to be considered sub-tropical.
              Last edited by Starving Steve; March 08, 2012, 09:13 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: solar fireworks: Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

                Originally posted by seanm123 View Post
                Wonderful I am flying tonight, should I take along a sextant incase the Pilot gets lost due to electronic malfunctions?
                I flew back this morning from Hong Kong to Chicago so i missed the fun. I did notice we flew directly over Anchorage today, but whe I went there last week, we flew above all of Alaska.

                Comment

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