yesterday there was a x6 class flare on the sun, when it happened it was on the other side of the sun so we avoided most of the radiation. This was a picture today posted today when it came into view. An X class flare is pretty significant, enough to move the space station astronauts to the other side of the space station til the proton event passes which is the predecessor to the actual flare hitting the earth. An x class flare is strong enough to cause damage to satellites, and will blank out radio signals for a period around the earth.

This picture shows a coronal hole which caused the flare.

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/07dec06/palmer1.jpg

red x

their server is probably being overloaded right now check back in a few if you can't see it. It's a big picture.

here's a smaller picture probably load faster

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/07dec06/palmer1_strip.jpg

interesting

You are freaking me out.

If you'd like to hear what it sounds like when it hits the earth go here:

http://www.heliotown.com/SDec6_06X61843UT22MHz.mp3

That's a recording of a receiver in Arizona on 22 mhz (shortwave)
The increased noise floor is the coronal mass ejection affecting the radio waves.

FYI this is very interesting as we're currently at the bottom of a 11 year sunspot cycle...where this type of stuff typically doesn't happen. The x6 today followed a X9 on the 5th which is a really bad storm. It's just hitting Earth today.

Don't these solar "storms" also cause increased levels of borealis visibilty? I would think that the northern lights, and possibly the southern lights as well would be much more active.

Tim that's what aurora is, Aurora Borealis.

Radio waves can be bounced off the aurora "cloud" which is a VERY intensley charged area of the upper ionosphere. It can do some real wild stuff.

pretty cool stuff scott.

the imagery they can get of this stuff now-adays is incredible.

The nasa site for the SOHO spacecraft is good for some wallpaper.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/eit_wave.jpg

Make sure you wear your tinfoil hat tonite when you go to bed Eric :btu:

You are freaking me out.

The hell with the tin foil hat, sleeping under the bed is more like it after looking at that molten mass.

We had issues with our dgps's on the ship due to these flares. Luckily we have 4 different units for redundancy so there was no real position excursions.

aurora over Finland this morning, I have only ever seen this around our latitudes once in my life. When we go to Canada I've seen it brighter than this.

http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/08dec06/Sarkela1_strip.jpg

way cool.

Storm is now an S2 and has subsided.

If this #930 sunspot rotates into Earth view WE could see very serious Aurora as soon as next week. Keep that in the back of your mind if you're out at nite.

nice hole. if i was a star i'd hit it.

aurora over Finland this morning, I have only ever seen this around our latitudes once in my life. When we go to Canada I've seen it brighter than this.

http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/08dec06/Sarkela1_strip.jpg

way cool.

Storm is now an S2 and has subsided.


How far up you have to go to see the lights?.....What time of year is normally the best?.....

That's something to see in life in my opinion :cool: ......

mr mom wait til next week, if that sunspot rotates into view and another coronal mass ejection happens while pointed at earth...you very well may see them very easily in this area.

I think the last time I seen Aurora down here was just a few years ago out fishing, anyone remember that it was down to NJ I think?

It happens this far down from time to time, but mostly in the upper latitudes, above 50 degrees lat I think.

That would be really cool......I'm in the NE part of the state and have some light pollution....amazing how much light emits from that armpit....

But if the word was they were being seen I'd take a ride NW of me for a better chance at seeing them :cool: ......

I was on the canal that night at the Scusset breakwater -incredible- about 20 guys just stoppped fishing to watch it started red and went to green lasted about 1/2 an hour and little bits all night . Never seen anything like it before.

Make sure you wear your tinfoil hat tonite when you go to bed Eric :btu:

I'm going to wear 2 layers of tin foil for extra protection.

68-70 around there.... i was walking up the road....

it was so breath taking.....you'd think a doorway to heaven had opened.

cool pics indeed

mr mom wait til next week, if that sunspot rotates into view and another coronal mass ejection happens while pointed at earth...you very well may see them very easily in this area.

I think the last time I seen Aurora down here was just a few years ago out fishing, anyone remember that it was down to NJ I think?

It happens this far down from time to time, but mostly in the upper latitudes, above 50 degrees lat I think.


Saw it twice in the last 4 years. Once I expected to see it, the whole sky was red/purple/blue. The next time was in 2004, as far as I know it wasn't predicted, I was out with redcrbbr and it was insane the whole northern sky was alight with fingers of color, it was breathtaking.

I have seen it more than a half dozen times to one extent or another in the past 8 years. Twice off Nantucket, several times off Q, once of MV. Only times I've seen it has been after that solar activity, and usually cool to cold evenings, no wind or NW wind (clears the air?) ... Last time I saw was last fall at Q - never expected to see it in New England but you can...

When I was still working winters up North I'd see them going through Pinkham Notch super early AM.

Booger, you got a prime day for next week? I might go hunt for some lightless areas to do some long exposures.

I'll let you know Ted, the soho bird is in ccd burn right now so wait til Monday or Tuesday.

Tsunami on the sun from spot 930. These are pretty cool in that when they go off out they "flatten" out the sun for a period.

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/08dec06/ospan.gif

Tomorrow morning get up REAL early...look dead east.

The planets are aligning...

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/08dec06/bush1.jpg

Eric you better switch to a metal hardhat :rotf2:

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2006/11dec06/midi512_blank.gif

That is spot 930 in the middle as of today. You got ZERO chance of seeing Aurora now this week it's gone quiet now.

X3 class flare last nite from spot #930

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/13dec06/dodson1.jpg

$5 says it's gonna puke a big one by the end of the week. You may see aurora by the weekend.

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2006/13dec06/cme_c3_strip.gif

I guess I was close. This is coming Dec 14...could get interesting, they already moved the shuttle/space station guys to the most protected areas.

I'm searching ebay for a 1/2" steel helmet :rotf2:

The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight. Start watching around 9 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Dec. 13th. The display will start small but grow in intensity as the night wears on. By Thursday morning, Dec. 14th, people in dark, rural areas could see one or two Geminids every minute.

TOMORROW NITE! This could be a real big one. I have to leave for Maine at 2am..hope the show is good.

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 rights 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 "reasonable chance" of more major flares in coming days, Kunches said.

Remember this flare?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070405/sc_space/solarradioburstscouldcripplegps

That looks like the same whole that all my boat money goes onto.

Better keep those "Dead Reckoning" skills sharp!

here's a smaller picture probably load faster

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/07dec06/palmer1_strip.jpg

Hmmmm....Looks like it might be that Hell place they've been telling us about.

One heck of a corn hole. Mine feels like that looks on some days after a weekend of the hot stuff.