Slashdot Mirror
X7-class Solar Event Detected
SlySpy007 writes "Spaceweather.com is reporting on an enormous solar event which took place earlier this evening. This event, emanating from the gigantic sunspot 720, registered as an X7-class event, and increased the 24-hour probability of a minor geomagnetic storm to 60% in mid-latitudes (70% in high latitudes). The GOES-12 satellite happened to catch this event with its SXI instrument (Solar X-ray Imager), and there's a pretty gnarly animation of the event from 720 over at the SXI site. I know this is gonna cause havoc for plenty of missions in orbit now; wonder if we'll see any disturbance here on terra firma." Another reader points to ground-based monitoring stations detecting a surge in cosmic rays at the time of the flare.
Try this link instead. It is a javascript+JPEGs in high-res movie, works better than the link submitted in the story.
The good news is, according to space.com, people in the northern latitudes (including the northernmost US states) should have seen some northern lights.
:)
The bad news is that the aurora borealis caused by this flare was expected to happen Tuesday night or perhaps during the predawn hours Wednesday in North America.
The good news is that the sunspot that produced this flare could produce more major flares before it heads around to the back side of the sun in a few days. So you might still get to see the northern lights.
Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
...that X7 is a rather moderate eruption? For reference, we routinely see eruptions throughout the solar cycle at least that big, and many which are many times greater. Google around and you'll find an eruption which occurred in November of 2003 which was dubbed the 'biggest solar flare ever recorded'. That was an X28.
More details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3251481.stm.