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Coronal Mass Ejection Hits Earth

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the duck-and-cover dept.

astroengine writes "On Tuesday, the Earth was hit by a coronal mass ejection (CME), triggering a 'moderate' geomagnetic storm, igniting aurorae at high latitudes. The CME in question was launched from the sun early on Sunday and space weather scientists predicted its arrival on Aug. 3 — the vast magnetic bubble of solar plasma arrived on schedule."

4 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Reminds me of a Star Trek: TNG episode... by ground.zero.612 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    where Dr. Crusher was commanding the Enterprise. She used Dr. Raega's (Farengi scientist) metaphasic shield to enter a star's corona with the Borg in persuit, and then fired the phasers at the star just below the Borg ship.

    Moral of the story? Sucks get caught in a CME.

    --
    "Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
  2. Re:Thank goodness there's no damage by Combatso · · Score: 3, Interesting

    1. 3. We are developing the ability to forecast "space weather", thus leading to a new field, astrometeorology

    just cuz im in my nitpick mood, the origin of the word meteorology is already astronomical. It was believed that meteors were part of earths weather system. So I think this new field should be called meteorology, and the old field should be called Geoweatherology... or Global Warming

    ... oh yeah http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/why-is-the-study-of-weather-called-meteorology-and-where-did-the-term-come-from

  3. Photo of Aurora consequent to CME by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Took this photo of the aurora last night in the short window of full darkness before the moon came up.

    There will be another shooting opportunity tonight, if the geomagnetic storm continues.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  4. A serious question by ebuck · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, how much additional mass did the earth obtain? I'm guessing that most of it was hydrogen, but it would be cool to get even a ball park figure.

    A few liters (at STP), a few moles, a kilogram, immeasurably small, or much more? Somebody who is more familiar with the field has to have made an estimate. Was it all energy or was mass actually transferred?