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Sun Produces First Cycle 24 X-Class Solar Flare

Posted by Soulskill on from the go-outside-and-look dept.

radioweather writes "For the first time since solar cycle 24 began, the sun produced a massive X-class solar flare, the strongest type of flare event. This comes from sunspot group 1158, which produced an M-class solar flare on Sunday. The EVE X-ray imager on the solar dynamics observatory shows a bright explosion on the sun, so bright it made a lens flare. The last X-class solar flare was on December 13th, 2006 and was part of solar cycle 23. Look for spectacular auroras in a couple days as the slower Coronal Mass Ejection hits earth. This will be a test of how well our newest technology handles stray energy from such solar disruptions."

30 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Stop this already... It's Oracle by c0lo · · Score: 5, Funny

    'Nuf said

    --
    Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
  2. am I the only one? by youn · · Score: 5, Funny

    for a second I thought it was about a 24 core new server from sun... then I realized the solar flare was not the oracle purchase :)

    --
    Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
    1. Re:am I the only one? by fabioalcor · · Score: 2

      Oracle didn't bought THAT sun... not yet.

  3. start worrying? by louic · · Score: 5, Funny

    How is this informative if we do not know if we need to be worried or not? Please let us know if we need to start worrying or not, just like in this post earlier on slashdot.

    1. Re:start worrying? by captainpanic · · Score: 2

      How is this informative if we do not know if we need to be worried or not? Please let us know if we need to start worrying or not, just like in this post earlier on slashdot.

      I agree.
      But according to all the media, there are so many things to worry about that I propose that from now on, we only get the Factor of Cumulative Worries (FCW).
      The news should simply give us a level of worriedness - it can be in 5 simple colors so that infants also understand it - ranging from green to red.
      "Today it's level Red! We're gonna die! Tomorrow, we expect a mild level Yellow. It will be green over the weekend, but don't cheer because on Monday we expect another Red!"

      Back to your question: It's government policy that it's probably safer to worry. So, yes, you should be worried. Just in case.

    2. Re:start worrying? by MacTO · · Score: 2

      Well increased solar activity it ought to add a little spunk to the aurora, which means that you can watch one of natures more beautiful light shows without tangoing with polar bears. So that's one less thing to worry about and one more thing to be happy about.

    3. Re:start worrying? by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, you don't need to worry about it. You just happen to know about it. If you did need to worry about it there was nothing you could do about it.

      --
      All rites reversed 2010
    4. Re:start worrying? by stealth_finger · · Score: 2

      How is this informative if we do not know if we need to be worried or not? Please let us know if we need to start worrying or not, just like in this post earlier on slashdot.

      DON'T PANIC!

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    5. Re:start worrying? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

      How is this informative if we do not know if we need to be worried or not?

      The best thing to do, is to monitor announcements from from your local authorities on radio and television . . . um, which will not be working, because they were trashed from the soft X-rays from the solar flare. OK, let's try again. Wait for the police car to drive by and give announcements over the patrol car's megaphone . . . which will also not work, because the car ignition and megaphone were fried by the X-rays, and the policeman is hiding in his cellar anyway, because only an idiot would go outside into a hail of X-rays.

      OK, just wrap yourself in tinfoil, and go outside at night and look for the aurora borealis or aurora australis, depending on which hemisphere you live in. The aurorae are much more impressive if you drop some acid before observing them. As a matter of fact, if the acid is good enough, you don't even need the aurorae to see funky lights.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    6. Re:start worrying? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Duh! It's a thermonuclear reactor! Of COURSE it is hellish dangerous! Why do you think it was built so far away?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:start worrying? by dreamchaser · · Score: 3, Informative

      How is this informative if we do not know if we need to be worried or not?

      Please let us know if we need to start worrying or not, just like in this post earlier on slashdot.

      If a news outlet tells you that there is a massive thunderstorm coming do they have to spell out whether to take precautions or not? If an X-Class flare is sighted and they tell you that a massive CME is going to head our way, do you really have to have it spelled out? Besides, unless you are planning on building a Faraday cage what exactly can you do about it if we have a severe solar weather event? Backup data? You don't do that already?

      By the way spaceweather.com is your friend if you give a shit about such matters. You know, like how you might hear a blurb on the news about possible bit thunderstorms so you go to a weather site for more info?

      People are so lazy these days, wanting everything spoon fed to them.

    8. Re:start worrying? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are outcomes between "sun comes up, sun goes down" and "Sun gives the Van Allen belt a good hard shove and everybody eats ionized death"...

      Solar behavior capable of knocking out a bunch of satellites, or affecting the power grid, is worrisome; but can be mitigated(or at least expected and then repaired) for various levels of nuisance and expense.

      If, for example, next week is going to be a especially terrible time to go into the wilderness with nothing but your trusty GPS and satellite phone, you can't do anything about what the sun is going to do to that infrastructure; but you can avoid relying on it...

    9. Re:start worrying? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Funny

      And that is why you dont have any superpowers like the rest of us.

      I go out naked during Xray events while holding a TV antenna high in the air.... I can now get stains out of any carpet with my mind!

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    10. Re:start worrying? by epiphani · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here's a bit more context.

      Sunspot 1158 is currently facing towards earth. This is not terribly uncommon - but X series flares are relatively rare. This is the strongest flare in the last four years. What is notable about this event is that it's an X series flare AND its pointed straight at us. It's not in the top ten (X9.0 is the bottom of the top ten, and its a logarithmic scale) of what we've observed, BUT it is the strongest flare in modern history that has been pointed straight at us.

      The CME will arrive in 24-48 hours. What the effects of the geomagnetic storm we're about to get will actually be, nobody's completely sure. The most likely case is a K7 or K8 geomagnetic storm. See this scale - and expect G3 or G4.

      Realistically, this will mean some power utilities are paying very close attention to their systems and having to tweak things. HAMs will definitely notice it, and cell phones may have some issues (not that you'd notice much).

      In summary, if you're anywhere north of 45 or 50 degrees lat and have some clear skies, get outside tonight and tomorrow night. Should be a good show.

      --
      .
    11. Re:start worrying? by Peristaltic · · Score: 2

      I wonder if it will be a problem for the folks on the ISS.

    12. Re:start worrying? by ultranova · · Score: 2

      Duh! It's a thermonuclear reactor! Of COURSE it is hellish dangerous! Why do you think it was built so far away?

      Technically speaking, it's a gravitationally contained nuclear explosion, and the containment has just suffered a partial failure.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  4. Oracle by sakdoctor · · Score: 3, Funny

    I did think Oracle for a second, but I quickly progressed to worrying if my computers could withstand a

  5. Lens flares by ThunderBird89 · · Score: 2

    An explosion on the Sun that produces a lens flare. On the Sun. Now that's something...

    --
    Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
  6. From NOAA.gov website by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2

    "... the largest xray solar flare in over a year..."

    So we shouldn't be heading for the nuke shelter's then, as we're still all here after last year's "largest xray solar flare in over $meaninglesslysmalltime..."

    Ok, so this is going to make pretty lights up at the pole, but the whole EMP-esque electrical Armageddon nuance is little over-hyped, don't you think?

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    1. Re:From NOAA.gov website by geekoid · · Score: 3, Informative

      but it's the largest one pointed directly at us in the modern era of electronics.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  7. Lens flare? by atomicthumbs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's not a lens flare, that's a CCD artifact caused by the intensity of the light (X-rays, in this case) saturating the CCD sensor, and leaving that column saturated as it's moved across the sensor to be read out.
    Read up.

    --
    http://pinopsida.com
  8. The sun, jealous at the moon,... by TheMidget · · Score: 2
    ... has started farting at us!

    Now, how will the moon react against this blatant trademark infringment?

    Farts... now available also where the sun does shine...

  9. Sense of scale by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 2

    It a bubble popping. Not an explosion.

    Also light takes longer to go from the center of the sun to its surface than from the surface to the Earth. - Just cause you didn't know.

    --
    All rites reversed 2010
  10. All joking aside... by ATestR · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The significance of this solar flare is not that it could or will be a danger to Earth... it is that is a sign that the sun is waking back up. Anyone who has been watching for long can tell you that there haven't been any significant sun spots for quite a while. It is possible that this is the reason behind some of the cold weather that the northern hemisphere has been experiencing this winter.

    --
    âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
  11. Re:What a coincidence. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Eh, that's just one of the audiophile wet-ops teams. After a few thousand rounds of being mocked about $600 ethernet cables and $2,000/meter silver IEC cables, some of the tighter wound ones go rogue and start striking back at the uncaring world that will never understand or accept them.

    In addition to the onboard sound(an unforgivable aural insult), you may find that your system and backups have been selectively purged of all lossy-compressed media. In especially severe cases, all audio may be purged(it was only CD "quality" to begin with, and even lossless compression makes audio sound flat and lifeless. It has to do with jitter, you wouldn't understand.)

  12. i'll be ok by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Funny

    i only use monster brand digital AV cables. the best buy salesman assured me they were designed specifically to resist x-class solar flares

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  13. wait, it's not 2012 yet... by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    but when they do, they'll ruin that, too!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  14. Follow this on spaceweather.com by AbrasiveCat · · Score: 2

    I use spaceweather.com to follow solar flares. There is also an explanation of flare intensity at http://spaceweather.com/glossary/flareclasses.html. This is all I'll get, the rain has moved back to the pacific northwest, we will not even know if the sun is out. :(

  15. We are insignificant... by Kildjean · · Score: 2

    I was just thinking how in our planet we go to war, have incompetent governments, Steve Jobs is an asshole, Bill Gates is fucking Melinda somewhere, AMD is on sale, Intel is #1, your mom is that easy and chuck norris is that cool.

    But if the sun burped we would be toast and the world would end in a blink. ...yeah... be happy

    --
    Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d encule de ta mere.
  16. Figures... by rnturn · · Score: 3

    The local forecast from NOAA says that it's going to get cloudy by tomorrow night and stay that way for several days. No aurora viewing for us it seems. Another typical weather forecast obscuring yet another astronomical event for folks in the Chicago area. I suppose we should all consider ourselves lucky we were able to see the aurora incident several years ago. It may be years before we get the chance again.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M