hunck
Antediluvian
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Solar Cycles / Solar Flares / Coronal Mass Ejections / Solar Storms
- Thread starter KeyserXSoze
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They're predicting a visible aurora in my neck of the woods (upper Midwest, U.S.)
hunck
Antediluvian
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Take some photos if so..
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- Mar 24, 2003
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- 2,066
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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- Sep 18, 2001
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- 51,666
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- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Is there something odd going on with the Sun, or is it just this Youtube channel hyping up stuff as usual?
If there are changes taking place in the Sun, this might be the explanation for global climate change...?
Also, if there are sudden changes, this is very worrying.
If there are changes taking place in the Sun, this might be the explanation for global climate change...?
Also, if there are sudden changes, this is very worrying.
that
- Joined
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- Out of Bounds
It would be a lot easier to take these sightings seriously if the (quite probably auto-adjusting) cameras weren't pointed directly at the sun.
Nothing to worry about here.
Two giant holes opened up on Sun potentially sending million mph winds to Earth.
A giant hole has opened up on the surface of the Sun, which could soon result in solar winds measuring millions of miles per hour hurtling towards Earth.
The coronal hole measures 20 times larger than our planet and it’s the second of its type to be detected in the last week.
The solar winds will impact on Friday. The first hole triggered auroras across the sky visible from Earth, and the impact of the second is currently being monitored.
https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/sun-hole-solar-winds-earth-2659707353
Two giant holes opened up on Sun potentially sending million mph winds to Earth.
A giant hole has opened up on the surface of the Sun, which could soon result in solar winds measuring millions of miles per hour hurtling towards Earth.
The coronal hole measures 20 times larger than our planet and it’s the second of its type to be detected in the last week.
The solar winds will impact on Friday. The first hole triggered auroras across the sky visible from Earth, and the impact of the second is currently being monitored.
https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/sun-hole-solar-winds-earth-2659707353
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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- 58,229
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- Eblana
Not much of a warning.
We've touched on the hazards of solar storms plenty of times in the past.
We've also recently started reporting even more stories involving some sort of AI, especially in the last few months since it has come back to the forefront of many discussions around technologies.
So it should come as no surprise that a team at NASA has been busily applying AI models to solar storm data to develop an early warning system that they think could give the planet about 30 minutes' notice before a potentially devastating solar storm hits a particular area.
That lead time is thanks to the fact that light (i.e., what radio signals are made out of) can travel faster than the solar material ejected out of the Sun in the event of these solar storms. In some events, such as one that impacted Quebec around 35 years ago, they can shut off power for hours.
More extreme events, such as the Carrington event that happened more than 150 years ago, can cause massive destruction of electrical and communication infrastructure if they were to happen today.
Scientists have long been aware of the problem and haven't sat idly by. At this point in our species' exploration of the Solar System, plenty of satellites are looking at the Sun that can be used to identify these solar outbursts.
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-w...arning-before-a-killer-solar-storm-hits-earth
We've touched on the hazards of solar storms plenty of times in the past.
We've also recently started reporting even more stories involving some sort of AI, especially in the last few months since it has come back to the forefront of many discussions around technologies.
So it should come as no surprise that a team at NASA has been busily applying AI models to solar storm data to develop an early warning system that they think could give the planet about 30 minutes' notice before a potentially devastating solar storm hits a particular area.
That lead time is thanks to the fact that light (i.e., what radio signals are made out of) can travel faster than the solar material ejected out of the Sun in the event of these solar storms. In some events, such as one that impacted Quebec around 35 years ago, they can shut off power for hours.
More extreme events, such as the Carrington event that happened more than 150 years ago, can cause massive destruction of electrical and communication infrastructure if they were to happen today.
Scientists have long been aware of the problem and haven't sat idly by. At this point in our species' exploration of the Solar System, plenty of satellites are looking at the Sun that can be used to identify these solar outbursts.
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-w...arning-before-a-killer-solar-storm-hits-earth
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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- Eblana
Radio Goes Ga Ga.
The Sun recently erupted in a flare that caused a brief but intense radio blackout in the western US and the Pacific Ocean as it lashed Earth's upper atmosphere.
On 2 July 2023, at 7.14 PM Eastern Standard Time, an active sunspot region called AR 3354 unleashed an X-class solar flare – the most powerful category of which our Sun is capable.
Coming in at X1.0 (the biggest ever was X28, recorded nearly 20 years ago), the flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere, interfering with high-frequency radio signals on the side of Earth that was facing the Sun at the time.
As serious as it might sound, the impact on Earth was milder than it could have been as the flare died down without further incident. Astronomers saw no sign of a coronal mass ejection that commonly accompanies such events, which would have launched streams of plasma far into space.
The eruption was consistent with the upward trajectory of the current solar cycle, and suggests we have some rowdy months ahead as we head towards the impending 11-year peak of solar activity. According to the Royal Observatory of Belgium, sunspot counts have reached a 21-year high, with the average for June hitting 163 sunspots a day.
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-sun-just-unleashed-a-huge-solar-flare-triggers-radio-blackout-in-us
The Sun recently erupted in a flare that caused a brief but intense radio blackout in the western US and the Pacific Ocean as it lashed Earth's upper atmosphere.
On 2 July 2023, at 7.14 PM Eastern Standard Time, an active sunspot region called AR 3354 unleashed an X-class solar flare – the most powerful category of which our Sun is capable.
Coming in at X1.0 (the biggest ever was X28, recorded nearly 20 years ago), the flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere, interfering with high-frequency radio signals on the side of Earth that was facing the Sun at the time.
As serious as it might sound, the impact on Earth was milder than it could have been as the flare died down without further incident. Astronomers saw no sign of a coronal mass ejection that commonly accompanies such events, which would have launched streams of plasma far into space.
The eruption was consistent with the upward trajectory of the current solar cycle, and suggests we have some rowdy months ahead as we head towards the impending 11-year peak of solar activity. According to the Royal Observatory of Belgium, sunspot counts have reached a 21-year high, with the average for June hitting 163 sunspots a day.
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-sun-just-unleashed-a-huge-solar-flare-triggers-radio-blackout-in-us
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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- Aug 19, 2003
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- 58,229
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- Eblana
Much bigger than the Carrington event.
The Carrington Event was a major reality check for a rapidly industrializing humanity. In September 1859, the Sun unleashed an eruption so powerful it sent electrical currents sweeping across Earth's surface, wiping out telegraph systems around the world, with fires and mayhem.
We've not seen its like since, but ancient evidence suggests that our Sun is capable of more – so very much more. In the rings of ancient, partially fossilized trees, scientists have found evidence of a solar storm at least an order of magnitude more powerful than the Carrington Event. It took place, they say, some 14,300 years ago, well before there was a technology grid to disrupt. Such events, more powerful than Carrington, appear periodically in the fossil record. But this one is the most powerful ever seen.
Solar, or geomagnetic, storms are common here on Earth. They occur when the Sun erupts in a colossal flare or coronal mass ejection. If the eruption occurs in the direction of Earth, a huge influx of charged particles will hit our magnetosphere.
A graphic showing a solar flare directed at Earth. (NASA)
The effects of this are mostly pretty mild. The interaction between the particles and atmospheric molecules result in some pretty spectacular auroras. It can disrupt satellite and radio communications at certain bands. During particularly powerful (and thankfully relatively rare) solar storms, the disruption to Earth's electromagnetic field can produce currents that can impact power grids.
Another quirk of solar storms is the effect they have on the radioactive carbon-14 constantly raining down on Earth. This radiocarbon is produced in the upper atmosphere as cosmic particles interact with atmospheric particles. Carbon-14 is incorporated into organisms, such as trees and animals, and because it decays at a known rate, scientists can use it to determine when these organisms lived. And it can also reveal historical solar eruptions, hidden in the annual rings of old trees.
"Radiocarbon is constantly being produced in the upper atmosphere through a chain of reactions initiated by cosmic rays," explains geologist Edouard Bard of the Collège de France and European Centre for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE).
"Recently, scientists have found that extreme solar events including solar flares and coronal mass ejections can also create short-term bursts of energetic particles which are preserved as huge spikes in radiocarbon production occurring over the course of just a single year."
https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-...s-ago-leaves-the-carrington-event-in-the-dust
The Carrington Event was a major reality check for a rapidly industrializing humanity. In September 1859, the Sun unleashed an eruption so powerful it sent electrical currents sweeping across Earth's surface, wiping out telegraph systems around the world, with fires and mayhem.
We've not seen its like since, but ancient evidence suggests that our Sun is capable of more – so very much more. In the rings of ancient, partially fossilized trees, scientists have found evidence of a solar storm at least an order of magnitude more powerful than the Carrington Event. It took place, they say, some 14,300 years ago, well before there was a technology grid to disrupt. Such events, more powerful than Carrington, appear periodically in the fossil record. But this one is the most powerful ever seen.
Solar, or geomagnetic, storms are common here on Earth. They occur when the Sun erupts in a colossal flare or coronal mass ejection. If the eruption occurs in the direction of Earth, a huge influx of charged particles will hit our magnetosphere.
A graphic showing a solar flare directed at Earth. (NASA)
The effects of this are mostly pretty mild. The interaction between the particles and atmospheric molecules result in some pretty spectacular auroras. It can disrupt satellite and radio communications at certain bands. During particularly powerful (and thankfully relatively rare) solar storms, the disruption to Earth's electromagnetic field can produce currents that can impact power grids.
Another quirk of solar storms is the effect they have on the radioactive carbon-14 constantly raining down on Earth. This radiocarbon is produced in the upper atmosphere as cosmic particles interact with atmospheric particles. Carbon-14 is incorporated into organisms, such as trees and animals, and because it decays at a known rate, scientists can use it to determine when these organisms lived. And it can also reveal historical solar eruptions, hidden in the annual rings of old trees.
"Radiocarbon is constantly being produced in the upper atmosphere through a chain of reactions initiated by cosmic rays," explains geologist Edouard Bard of the Collège de France and European Centre for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE).
"Recently, scientists have found that extreme solar events including solar flares and coronal mass ejections can also create short-term bursts of energetic particles which are preserved as huge spikes in radiocarbon production occurring over the course of just a single year."
https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-...s-ago-leaves-the-carrington-event-in-the-dust
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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- Aug 19, 2003
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- 58,229
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- Eblana
Manuscript Mentions Maunder Minimum Mystery.
An annotated section of the historical Korean texts that mentions auroras occurring during the Maunder Minimum. (Image credit: Yan et al. 2023)
The sun's solar cycles were once around three years shorter than they are today, a new analysis of centuries-old Korean chronicles reveals. This previously unknown anomaly occurred during a mysterious solar epoch known as the "Maunder Minimum," more than 300 years ago.
The sun is constantly in a state of flux. Our home star cycles through periods of increased activity, known as solar maximum, when solar storms become more frequent and powerful, as well as spells of reduced activity, known as solar minimum, when solar storms almost completely disappear.
It currently takes about 11 years for the sun to complete a solar cycle, from minimum to maximum and back again. Scientists can track the sun's progress through a solar cycle by counting the number of sunspots on the star's surface, which appear more frequently in the lead-up to and during solar maximum.
But just as the sun fluctuates within individual cycles, historical sunspot records show that over longer periods, spanning decades or centuries, the overall output of solar cycles can also rise and fall.
The Maunder Minimum, sometimes referred to as the Grand Solar Minimum, was a period of greatly reduced solar activity between 1645 and 1715 when sunspots "effectively disappeared," Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado who was not involved in the recent research, told Live Science in an email.
https://www.livescience.com/space/t...-discovered-in-centuries-old-texts-from-korea
Strange anomaly in sun's solar cycle discovered in centuries-old texts from Korea
Aurora records in royal chronicles from Korea show that during the 'Maunder Minimum' between 1645 and 1715, the sun's solar cycles became several years shorter than they are today.
An annotated section of the historical Korean texts that mentions auroras occurring during the Maunder Minimum. (Image credit: Yan et al. 2023)
The sun's solar cycles were once around three years shorter than they are today, a new analysis of centuries-old Korean chronicles reveals. This previously unknown anomaly occurred during a mysterious solar epoch known as the "Maunder Minimum," more than 300 years ago.
The sun is constantly in a state of flux. Our home star cycles through periods of increased activity, known as solar maximum, when solar storms become more frequent and powerful, as well as spells of reduced activity, known as solar minimum, when solar storms almost completely disappear.
It currently takes about 11 years for the sun to complete a solar cycle, from minimum to maximum and back again. Scientists can track the sun's progress through a solar cycle by counting the number of sunspots on the star's surface, which appear more frequently in the lead-up to and during solar maximum.
But just as the sun fluctuates within individual cycles, historical sunspot records show that over longer periods, spanning decades or centuries, the overall output of solar cycles can also rise and fall.
The Maunder Minimum, sometimes referred to as the Grand Solar Minimum, was a period of greatly reduced solar activity between 1645 and 1715 when sunspots "effectively disappeared," Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado who was not involved in the recent research, told Live Science in an email.
https://www.livescience.com/space/t...-discovered-in-centuries-old-texts-from-korea
DrPaulLee
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
- Messages
- 2,018
Just spotted this on my news feed!!!
https://www.space.com/sun-x-flare-december-2023-most-powerful-since-2017
eburacum
Papo-furado
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2005
- Messages
- 5,807
Interesting!
A lot of aurora activity recently, and some of my friends have seen and photographed it - but it is probably cloudy tonight, so not much hope.
I'm also looking out for Uranus as well, in Aries - it is quite bright at the moment (i.e, barely visible).
A lot of aurora activity recently, and some of my friends have seen and photographed it - but it is probably cloudy tonight, so not much hope.
I'm also looking out for Uranus as well, in Aries - it is quite bright at the moment (i.e, barely visible).
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2002
- Messages
- 36,432
- Location
- East of Suez
Just spotted this on my news feed!!!
https://www.space.com/sun-x-flare-december-2023-most-powerful-since-2017
Interesting times! Will be following this.
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,229
- Location
- Eblana
Physical evidence of the Carrington event finally found in Finnish forest
The strongest solar flare in recorded history burst into Earth’s atmosphere in 1859, bathing both hemispheres in brilliantly colorful aurorae as it wreaked worldwide havoc on telegraph systems. The celestial chaos was broadly witnessed, but lingering physical evidence of that storm, dubbed the Carrington event, has proven stubbornly elusive — until now, researchers report in the March 16 Geophysical Research Letters.
Ecologist Joonas Uusitalo of the University of Helsinki and his colleagues have identified the first known traces of the Carrington event: atoms of carbon-14 preserved in tree rings in Finland’s far north. Scientists previously hadn’t detected tree ring evidence of this event, although other trees have recorded more powerful solar flares that occurred before modern recordkeeping began, such as in 774 and 993.
Those storms were perhaps 10 times more intense than the one in 1859, Uusitalo says, so it makes sense that they’d leave a stronger signal. Also, he says, the trees in which scientists have previously hunted for clues to the Carrington event have all been located in the mid-latitudes — for example, in Japan, Europe or the United States. But “based on our earlier research, we had this idea that maybe the polar trees are more sensitive to [less powerful storms].”
So Uusitalo’s team examined rings from three trees at different sites within the Lapland region of Finland, above the Arctic Circle, as well as rings from three trees from the mid-latitudes. These rings all dated between 1853 to 1871. The team found a statistically significant increase in carbon-14 in the polar trees compared with those in the mid-latitudes during the year of the Carrington event. That suggests it is possible to use polar tree rings to detect moderate-sized solar storms. ...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/polar-forests-solar-storm-mystery-trees
The strongest solar flare in recorded history burst into Earth’s atmosphere in 1859, bathing both hemispheres in brilliantly colorful aurorae as it wreaked worldwide havoc on telegraph systems. The celestial chaos was broadly witnessed, but lingering physical evidence of that storm, dubbed the Carrington event, has proven stubbornly elusive — until now, researchers report in the March 16 Geophysical Research Letters.
Ecologist Joonas Uusitalo of the University of Helsinki and his colleagues have identified the first known traces of the Carrington event: atoms of carbon-14 preserved in tree rings in Finland’s far north. Scientists previously hadn’t detected tree ring evidence of this event, although other trees have recorded more powerful solar flares that occurred before modern recordkeeping began, such as in 774 and 993.
Those storms were perhaps 10 times more intense than the one in 1859, Uusitalo says, so it makes sense that they’d leave a stronger signal. Also, he says, the trees in which scientists have previously hunted for clues to the Carrington event have all been located in the mid-latitudes — for example, in Japan, Europe or the United States. But “based on our earlier research, we had this idea that maybe the polar trees are more sensitive to [less powerful storms].”
So Uusitalo’s team examined rings from three trees at different sites within the Lapland region of Finland, above the Arctic Circle, as well as rings from three trees from the mid-latitudes. These rings all dated between 1853 to 1871. The team found a statistically significant increase in carbon-14 in the polar trees compared with those in the mid-latitudes during the year of the Carrington event. That suggests it is possible to use polar tree rings to detect moderate-sized solar storms. ...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/polar-forests-solar-storm-mystery-trees