X17 Solar Flare Sends 2B Tons of Plasma at Earth

Dr. Zowie writes "This morning a very large solar flare erupted from a large sunspot group that is crossing the face of the Sun. The explosion sent over 2 billion tons of material hurtling across the solar system toward Earth. Movies from the SOHO spacecraft show the flare in UV and the associated coronal mass ejection in visible light as they happened, and the impact of high energy protons that the flare launched at about half the speed of light. NOAA's Space Environment Center shows that the Sun's X-ray brightness went up 100x during the flare. Expect more aurora and geomagnetic effects in the next day or two!"

Comments

Way cool...

[Kr3m3Puff]

I have to just admit the awe I have in watching the SOHO Video... that is just totally amazing. Makes you feel teeny weenie small, doesn't it?

Forget Iraq, the 2004 Election, the economy...

And people question our space exploration budget!!! Silly people!

Re:Way cool...

[spaceyhackerlady]

I feel that way every single time I read up something about the universe/astronomy.

If it makes you feel like that reading about it, imagine what it must feel like to do it yourself. I observed some wonderful sunspots Sunday afternoon. The night before I observed several star clusters, a couple of nebulae, and, for good measure, spent some quality time with Mars. It clouded over before Saturn was high enough for good observation.

...laura

"It's coming right for us!" *WHOOSH* "Kick Ass!"

[n9fzx]

Note that as an X17, this flare is 10x the size of last week's little girly man X6 (log scale). And, unlike the X20 of two years ago, we're directly in its path. So, the resulting aurora should be on par with the 1989 event.

Batten down those scintillation counters! Unhook the HF radios!

Re:A question about the Sun's behavior

[isaac]

The sunspot cycle (which takes 11 years) peaked in 2000, yet there's an unusually large amount of activity of late. There was a somewhat intense solar flare a few days ago, and now this one, which is believed to be the third-largest one on record. Are there any explanations for this large amount of activity at what should be a non-peak time?

Let's see:

• The roughly-11-year solar cycle is just based on observation and correlation. It lets one make certain predictions about the likelihood of solar events, but that's all.
• Recorded history isn't very long compared to the sun's age, to say nothing of the still-shorter track record of scientific solar observation. The sun may (and probably does) exhibit other epicyclic phenomena on timescales too long for us to have directly measured.

That's a start. Just because we're past the predicted peak of current cycle doesn't mean there won't be solar activity.

-Isaac

Re:While some might want to cast aspersions on...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh come on! Will someone do something and cut it with this paranoid "Planet X' bullshit. NASA has clearly disproved the so-called "theories" of such "luminaries" as Nancy Lieder and Zecharia Sitchin again and again. It's not even funny anymore. You hacks with your "Planet X is coming" doom and gloom posts are no longer funny. The real truth is that there's nothing coming. Period. No conspiracy. Nobody got murdered in any coverups. Nothing. Just give it a rest already! Please!

how to prepare

[Tumbleweed]

Duck...and COVER!

alternate plan:

Turn off your cellphone, place your hands behind your head, put your head between your knees, and kiss your data communications goodbye. For a little while. And don't forget to stare at the pretty Northern Lights tonight! (hopefully)

Re:This means WAR!

[Anonymous Coward]

The Palestinians, on the other hand, were rejoicing in the streets and handing out free candy to children.

Within a week of that footage being shown on TV it was discredited as being old stock footage from months and months before 9/11. Get with the times!

Re:This means WAR!

[Chris Burke]

And I don't care if Palestinians are considered Semites too, you know *exactly* what I meant.

Yes, what you meant was "I have a lot of strongly held opinions on a subject that not only am I so startlingly fucking ignorant about that I can't keep straight who belongs to what group, I am also such an asshat that I can't be bothered to care".

Don't worry. Your message is coming through loud and clear, bud.

Strong countries stand up for their friends and stand up to their enemies, period.

", period." is one of my favorite English expressions, since what it almost always means is "the preceding was a bunch of made-up tripe that I want you to accept without argument like I did". That's the kind of handy information I wish more people would include in their ignorance-inspired diatribes.