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Sun Unleashes Most Powerful Flare Since 2006
astroengine writes "Early Tuesday morning, the Sun unleashed a powerful X-class flare. The X7 flare is the most energetic explosion to come from the Sun since December 2006. Although the flare was directed away from the Earth, a minor proton storm was detected and some radio communications have been disrupted due to higher-than-normal rates of ionization in the Earth's ionosphere. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the whole event, imaging the flaring site and multi-million degree post-flare plasma."
The moon never pulls shit like this.
(Apologies to The Onion - kind of sad when that site beats SlashDot to news like this.)
Since Oracle bought Sun, perhaps the title should be "Oracle Unleashes Most Powerful Flare Since 2006." Damn you Oracle!!!!
And if we don't stop global warming NOW, those flares will only get worse!
help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am
is flare going to be covered by my Oracle service contract?
Good people go to bed earlier.
I was kinda thinking along the same lines. And shouldn't we just go ahead and call our Sun, Oracle?
If the flare had been directed towards the earth, what would have happened?
VHF ham radio guys all call in sick tomorrow to bounce signals off the aurora. Seriously. Every time there's a huge auroral display there is a distinct lack of ham radio callsign license plates in the parking lot.... Its like the worlds largest physics experiment, lotsa fun.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Honest journalism.
Increased incidents of skin cancer next year
Not for those of us who live in Mom's basement, thank you very much.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
If the flare had been directed towards the earth, what would have happened?
Communications problems today. Increased incidents of skin cancer next year.
Refer to GP comment about Oracle.
"No matter where you go, there you are." -- Buckaroo Banzai
Well to answer that you would have to answer a question for me...do you plan to be alive in 2036? Because we will be having a visit from 99942 Apophis in 2029 and whether or not people in 2036 are gonna be having a REALLY bad day in August will depend on how close it goes to the "keyhole" because if it goes through the center of the keyhole our gravity will pull it enough to cause it to slam into us in 2036 if we don't stop it.
For more information see these these two videos by Neil Degrasse Tyson.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
8 minutes is how long it takes *light* from the sun to reach us. A solar flare takes considerably longer, on the order of a couple days.
Think about it. If the flare itself traveled at the speed of light, we wouldn't even know it had happened until it hit us.
If fate makes you a motorcycle, you become a motorcycle.
That is why there are plants, most of them hydro, that exist for these reasons. http://wiki.colby.edu/display/es398b/History+of+Harris is one reference to this ability. Harris station comes online, feeding the new england grid, allowing the nukes and oil burners to come back online.
As a side note, the plants don't have to go down. They DO have to disconnect from those hundred mile long antennas they have attached to their sub stations.
I've got more to say, but posting without an account, I doubt I'll be modded high enough to make it matter.
someone will get a small bruise on the upper arm
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I preferred the flares in 1976!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3462746684_6b04b2b493_b.jpg
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Our sensitive microelectronics is very vulnerable to being wrecked by electromagnetic pulses, whether natural or set off by human enemies.
Regarding the huge "Carrington Event" solar flare of September 1, 1859, NASA reports that "Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire." The Engineer goes further and says, "The Carrington Storm caused fires and electrocuted workers at telegraph stations".
That that is is that that that that is not is not.