Flare Sends A Gigaton Of Solar Detritus Toward Earth

Dr. Zowie writes: "This morning at about 10:00 UT, a major explosion occured on the Sun. The solar X-ray output went up by over 1,000 times. About a billion tons of material are speeding toward Earth at over a million miles per hour, and should hit sometime in the next couple of days. Low latitude aurorae and anomalies in radio communications and power service are likely consequences. You can see the event from the SOHO spacecraft's home page -- images and movies are here. In the movies, watch for the burst of radiation hitting SOHO about 13:00 UT -- that's a high energy proton storm caused by the flare itself. You can also see the earthly effects of a similar event from last year."

Comments

Great..

[PopeAlien]

..anomalies in radio communications and power service are likely consequences.

The ultimate slashdot effect!

I knew I should have invested in that UPS.. sigh.

Oh no! Not again!

[John_Booty]

This morning at about 10:00 UT, a major explosion occured on the Sun
God damned terrorists!

Doh!

[maw]

Low latitude aurorae and anomalies in radio communications and power service are likely consequences.

Doh! So much for my glorious uptime! :(

Clearly a terrorist plot...

[Lethyos]

Ladies and gentlemen of the House, we have yet again faced a grave terrorist threat. United States intelligence was unable to detect and then stop this obvious terrorist attack to collide material from our sun. Clearly the terrorists weren't finished with the WTC, they must now slam something into planet earth's atmosphere, and yes, even earth itself. The success of this attack is a direct result of our nation's intelligence agencies inability to crack strong crypto used by terrorists. It is obvious to demand that all cryphers hence forth have back doors for us to use to help prevent such senseless acts of wanton violence in the future.

When was the Concert Announced?

[saihung]

I hadn't realized that Disaster Area was scheduled to play this month. And me without rubber bungs for my ears.

Re:When was the Concert Announced?

[richie2000]

Aw, just put a fish in them instead.

BTW, the concert was quite visibly announced in the third janitor's closet to the left in the basement of EMA/Telstar's Galactic HQ on the far side of Rigel 5. You really need to keep up with the flow of information.

Standard warning issued ?

[evil_roy]

I suppose this is yet another day when we can't look directly at the sun ?

Quick lets whip up a good Nostradamus quote

[deadmantalking]

And send it out as a chain mail...
hows:
when the blue turban man
wields the power of his sword
even the sun will burst out
and light his road

Re:Quick lets whip up a good Nostradamus quote

[stoofa]

An old man will arise, on his hands too much time
in predicting the future, he'll make it all rhyme
he'll write so much garbage, no-one bothers with reading
making it easy for pranksters to invent things misleading
like infinite monkeys with shakespearean play
something is bound to match up on some day
so much will he write, it'll be hit and miss
and no-one will twig that he's taking the piss

Time to consult the BOFH for advice

[camusflage]

In times of solar flares, the BOFH recommends: "MAGNETS. Wrap your disks up in a pillow case with lots of magnets - Solar Flares hate that"

The U.S. Response

[Scott_Marks]

I think we should bomb the Sun in retaliation.

Nuke it 'til it glows.