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Huge Triangle-shaped Spot Over the Sun

jojo_it writes "NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed a gigantic spot on the sun's corona, that takes the shape of a black triangle. The spot is visible on the AIA 193 channel [of NASA's solar dynamics observatory] since March 11th. 2012 doomsday-theorists should be delighted."

160 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. My god!!! by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's a Mayan pyramid!!!!

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
    1. Re:My god!!! by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's all part o the Illuminati's plans, man!

    2. Re:My god!!! by vlm · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't worry about it. Sometimes a triangle is just a triangle. When you look up there and think you see a goatse, that's when I'd start getting worried.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    3. Re:My god!!! by Missing.Matter · · Score: 4, Informative

      Mayan pyramids were stepped.

    4. Re:My god!!! by korex · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's Destiny recharging on our sun

    5. Re:My god!!! by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      What happened with the classic "Its full of stars!"? A pyramid full of stars this year would have a lot more sense than a boxy monolith.

    6. Re:My god!!! by stevegee58 · · Score: 2

      That's because it isn't full of stars; it's full of "star stuff".

    7. Re:My god!!! by LMacG · · Score: 5, Funny

      That was thousands of years ago. The Mayans have had plenty of time to work on their anti-aliasing algorithms.

      --
      Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
    8. Re:My god!!! by SadButTrue · · Score: 5, Funny

      Except it is about the size of Jupiter. The Mayans were way to lazy to build something like that, hell they couldn't even finish their calendar.

      --
      grape - the GNU free, open source rape
    9. Re:My god!!! by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      It's full of beeeellions and beeelions of star stuffs

    10. Re:My god!!! by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      It isn't even a triangle, unless you consider a triangle drawn by someone with the shakes a "triangle".

      I guess I shoudn't have RTFA but I had to see the triangle... and didn't.

    11. Re:My god!!! by Chakra5 · · Score: 1
      --
      Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.--Mark Twain
    12. Re:My god!!! by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      Yeah, assuming there's only one or I'm looking at the right one, it looked to me like a nearly perfect semicircle.

      --
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    13. Re:My god!!! by angularbanjo · · Score: 1

      Or their "too"s

    14. Re:My god!!! by Omegawar · · Score: 1

      Can't be, it was cancelled.

    15. Re:My god!!! by Megane · · Score: 1

      No, it's actually a promotion for the new Sabre Pyramid Tablet!

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    16. Re:My god!!! by Scragglykat · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's 70's triangle...

    17. Re:My god!!! by QuantumLeaper · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sorry, it nothing special, just a coronal filament, very common. It is explained here... http://youtu.be/82l46fpd-ic

    18. Re:My god!!! by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      That would be a black hole.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    19. Re:My god!!! by MarkGriz · · Score: 1

      It's a Mayan pyramid!!!!

      Worse, its the Sabre Pyramid

      --
      Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
    20. Re:My god!!! by gtall · · Score: 1

      What a killjoy. My own suspicion is that previous version of this was flown by extra-terrestrials in to the World Trade Center just before they snuck down here and forced the FBI to load the building with hidden explosives, the body of Jimmy Hoffa, and the missing brain of John F. Kennedy. The odd part is they flew it into the WCT BEFORE the FBI laced it with explosives. Sneaky little buggers, those extraterrestrials. Some hold they also hit the Pentagon, but that is a conspiracy theory totally unfounded.

    21. Re:My god!!! by Adriax · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah, Evil Council.
      Hopefully we can find the Chosen One and Toungy in time.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    22. Re:My god!!! by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      The Mayans didn't have leap years. After converting the calendars there have been over 500 of those. In other words the world ended two years ago by the Mayan calendar.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    23. Re:My god!!! by wickedskaman · · Score: 1

      Oh, to only have mod points to reward this rarity of a Kung Pow reference. Also: THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS!

      --
      Sand's overrated... it's just tiny little rocks.
    24. Re:My god!!! by Thuktun · · Score: 1

      The Mayans were way to lazy to build something like that, hell they couldn't even finish their calendar.

      We've probably just lost or mistranslated something like "dal Capo al Coda" at the end of their calendar definition.

    25. Re:My god!!! by toriver · · Score: 2

      Plus, it has taken them that long to render ONE triangle?

    26. Re:My god!!! by niktemadur · · Score: 1

      It's a Mayan pyramid!!!!

      Why read TFA when they'll do a in-depth investigation on the History Channel soon enough?

      --
      Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
    27. Re:My god!!! by greghodg · · Score: 1

      not a goatse, a mutant star goat! All of you, to the B ark!

    28. Re:My god!!! by Ocker3 · · Score: 1

      It's all a big marketing campaign before they shout "Bazinga!" and bring the show back with two secretly filmed seasons! *an SGU fan can Dream can't he???*

    29. Re:My god!!! by flamewarflipsides · · Score: 1

      Get future events right in a movie from the 60s right? I'm afraid I can't do that, gmulsera.

    30. Re:My god!!! by steelfood · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, the Mayan calendar finishes you!

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    31. Re:My god!!! by KingBenny · · Score: 1

      lol yea, oop but + for very funny

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
  2. So Clarke got it wrong. by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 2

    It was a triangle and not a rectangle. And it was the star that was full of triangles, not the other way around. ;-)

    1. Re:So Clarke got it wrong. by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      By 2010, it was a proto-star full of rectangles.

    2. Re:So Clarke got it wrong. by arth1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I saw the triangle - it was HUGE!
      Then I clicked it, and it went away, and the sun started spinning.
      So you're safe now.

    3. Re:So Clarke got it wrong. by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Funny

      They better not have rounded corners.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:So Clarke got it wrong. by gtall · · Score: 1

      I knew it, the tri-lateral commission is behind this!!

  3. what by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    maybe I'm blind, but I don't see ****.

    1. Re:what by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      You don't see it because it's protected by an SEP field.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:what by tom17 · · Score: 1

      I saw it. I caught it by surprise out of the corner of my eye. The little bastard.

    3. Re:what by Megane · · Score: 1

      Did you shit triangular bricks?

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    4. Re:what by geekoid · · Score: 1

      How else would you be able to stack shit?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    5. Re:what by steelfood · · Score: 1

      OMG, how did you find out my password was hunter2???

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  4. Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Informative

    The NASA video constantly reiterates that it's a 'common event' while trying to make it still sound cool even telling you about coronal cavities and filaments. The Register, with complete disregard for knowledge, skips this part and goes straight to alien's fueling up on the sun, Death Star references, etc. Slashdot blows all of that away, changes it from spherical to triangle (not sure where that came from) and clings to doomsday theories.

    Everyone profits but NASA. Just like the History Channel, sacrifice your integrity for aliens and conspiracies to maximize profit.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by Message · · Score: 1

      Wish I had mod points.

    2. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by the_saint1138 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Indeed. Possibly the worst summary I've ever read here.

    3. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by medv4380 · · Score: 1

      changes it from spherical to triangle (not sure where that came from)

      Have you looked at the linked image? It's an outline of a triangle. Kinda looks like the Tri-Force put together.

    4. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by efudddd · · Score: 4, Informative

      The first link (filament/coronal sphere event) is apparently a wrong link and not what the poster is referring to. Try the second link for a flat photo, third link for the SDO interactive camera page. I tried the AIA settings; it shows up in a lot of them. This may be a "standard" event (I have no clue one way or the other), but it's monstrously large; I'd love an explanation or link to similar solar event if it's not totally anomalous.

    5. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by HappyHead · · Score: 1

      And the linked video on the Register article is some conspiracy theorist rambling about image filters and increasing the gain to see the "black spherical anomoly" (his spelling), and has nothing to do with triangles. The register article then goes off into wild theories about aliens, and gives misleading partial quotes from astronomers to make it seem as though they agree. The register article, which is linked in the summary as "takes the shape of a black triangle" has nothing to do with triangles.

    6. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Informative

      I know it's not cool to RTFA, but the Register page basically says as much if you read on long enough.

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    7. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by booyoh · · Score: 1

      Slashdot blows all of that away, changes it from spherical to triangle (not sure where that came from)

      I am curious as well where they got triangle from. I kept staring at the image trying to look for that damn triangle and could not find it. I think I am sun blind now >.>

    8. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by kj_kabaje · · Score: 2

      Thank you for your summary, T'alc.

    9. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 1

      Not true. It's in a tie for last place with about half of the summaries I've read. The others are tied for second, with the first place award being withheld.

    10. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Did you even read the article! The Register DID NOT skip anything or jump to any conclusions.

      They point out the crazy explanations:

      "Keen-eyed skywatchers have spotted a mysterious object emerging from the Sun that, according to the tinfoil-hatted YouTube majority, can only be a UFO, a small black hole, a world-destroying weapon or maybe a new planet."

      Then they go on to quote an astrophysicist that explains the phenomenon:

      "Filaments, when you see them on the solar disc at certain wavelengths, they appear to be dark because they're cooler material in relation to what's in the background. When you see them on the edge of the sun we call them prominences but they're the same objects," Young said."

    11. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by the_saint1138 · · Score: 1

      Well, the reason it takes the cake for me was the basic geometric pattern recognition failure. Sphere != Triangle!

      Not only that, but the summary goes so far as to call it a "Triangle-shaped Spot". Words fail to describe how I feel after reading that atrocity.

    12. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Dunno there. Usually Slashdot doesn't screw up geometric primitives. Squares are squares. Rectangles, well, rectangles sometimes get mangled. But circle to triangle? WTF?

      I spent a couple of minutes looking at the static picture trying to find the triangle. Like Where's Waldo for the adults after a really bad hangover.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    13. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by Psion · · Score: 2

      I do ... but the post is already modded to the max. What a cruel day to be a moderator.

    14. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's not an image, it's a video. The triangle is the "play" button.

    15. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by mrbester · · Score: 4, Funny

      Indeed.

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    16. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by Dishevel · · Score: 1

      Then you have not read many summaries here.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    17. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

      The Register, with complete disregard for knowledge, skips this part and goes straight to alien's fueling up on the sun, Death Star references, etc.

      Did actually read all of the Register article, or just the tongue in cheek headline and intro?

    18. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by Yvan256 · · Score: 1
    19. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by snowgirl · · Score: 1

      The first link (filament/coronal sphere event) is apparently a wrong link and not what the poster is referring to. Try the second link for a flat photo, third link for the SDO interactive camera page. I tried the AIA settings; it shows up in a lot of them. This may be a "standard" event (I have no clue one way or the other), but it's monstrously large; I'd love an explanation or link to similar solar event if it's not totally anomalous.

      If I'm seeing what everyone is going on about, it's just two lines that meet at a common point. WTF? There's nothing special about this.

      v --- LOOK! IT'S A TRIANGLE... OH NO! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE THERE, TOO!

      --
      WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
    20. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by toriver · · Score: 1

      Show mercy, it has been ages since Stargate SG-1 aired.

    21. Re:Oh So That's Why NASA Has Little Funding by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Just like the History Channel, sacrifice your integrity for aliens and conspiracies to maximize profit.

      This isn't aimed at you specifically, but just generally: stop watching TV.

      To put it another way: to learn about good music you wouldn't turn on MTV. I get that some people need to tune out for a while, but at least watch some fiction for that, and then put some actual history books on your reading list.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  5. Worst article summary ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Slashdot seems to think the following is news worthy: The sun does things scientists know about and understand; ignorant people don't and jump to conclusions. Your increasingly sensational headlines make me hate you more and more every day slashdot.

    1. Re:Worst article summary ever by doston · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Slashdot seems to think the following is news worthy: The sun does things scientists know about and understand; ignorant people don't and jump to conclusions. Your increasingly sensational headlines make me hate you more and more every day slashdot.

      Then maybe you'll stop posting pointless comments anonymously. If the sun only did things scientists understand, they wouldn't bother studying it. Just read Science sometime. Scientists are barely beginning to underand the earth and they live on it.

    2. Re:Worst article summary ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Im going to start a new slashdot!!! with blackjack!! and hookers!!!

    3. Re:Worst article summary ever by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      The best part is the conspiracy is based on You Tube comments. I saw it once and missed it, then again then I saw it... It looks quite natural to me. Like a burst of cooler gasses going threw the corona, once it left a particular density/gravity it probably dispersed a lot like spray paint leaving a straw.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Worst article summary ever by Walterk · · Score: 1

      In fact, forget the slashdot!

    5. Re:Worst article summary ever by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      www.slashdotwithblackjackandhookers.org.

      The domain name is available.

  6. Not a Triangle. by gbr · · Score: 5, Informative

    If it's a triangle, why does the video show and discuss a circular object with a 'tether' to the sun?

    1. Re:Not a Triangle. by berashith · · Score: 5, Funny

      well, it is a triangle that is curved into a ball, obviously

    2. Re:Not a Triangle. by reverseengineer · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a non-Euclidean triangle! To even imagine the Lovecraftian horrors that lie within would drive you mad!

      --
      "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
    3. Re:Not a Triangle. by jovius · · Score: 2

      A huge hot black triangle shaped spot sounds like a Freudian slip to me. Imagine if there were two circular objects tethered to the Sun...

    4. Re:Not a Triangle. by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I think it's a wrong link.

      Nonetheless, I found the mysterious dark circular object article far more interesting than the triangular sunspot one.

    5. Re:Not a Triangle. by crazycheetah · · Score: 1

      No fucking clue why the first article is linked, myself... it has nothing to do with what the summary is talking about.

      However, the second link actually shows what I think they're trying to talk about in the summary (you can kinda make it into a strange triangle sort of thing...).

      Or you can go to http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/ and select AIA 193 (or AIA 211, AIA 335, or AIA Composite [all three of those, but one that it particularly stands out is 211, 193, 171]) on the drop down below the picture of the sun, and you'll see another view of it.

    6. Re:Not a Triangle. by Botia · · Score: 1

      Everything is made out of triangles these days. The question is how many triangles can the sun push.

    7. Re:Not a Triangle. by steelfood · · Score: 1

      It's projected onto the surface of a sphere, so yeah, it's non-Euclidean.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  7. My God! by stevegee58 · · Score: 2

    It's full of stars!

    1. Re:My God! by Svartalf · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah... It's just a rubber Ningi burning up in the sun...

      --
      I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
    2. Re:My God! by tom17 · · Score: 1

      Damn :( I already have 7. If I had that one too I could finally get a Triganic Pu!

  8. Aliens by gimmebeer · · Score: 1

    It's the only explanation.

    1. Re:Aliens by oneiros27 · · Score: 3, Funny

      LISTER: Oh god, aliens? Your explanation for anything slightly peculiar is aliens, isn't it? You lose your keys -- it's aliens. A picture falls off the wall -- it's aliens. That time we used up a whole bog roll in a day -- you thought that was aliens as well.
      RIMMER: Well we didn't use it all, Lister. Who did?
      LISTER: Rimmer, aliens used our bog roll?
      RIMMER: Just 'cause they're aliens doesn't mean to say the don't have to visit the little boys' room. Only they probably do something weird and alienesque like it comes out of the top of their heads or something.

      (Red Dwarf, Season 2, "Kryten")

      --
      Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
    2. Re:Aliens by johnlcallaway · · Score: 1

      Half true. The most common comments after "I can't explain it" are "so it must be aliens" or "so it must be the work of a god".

      --
      I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    3. Re:Aliens by Maritz · · Score: 1

      LISTER: Well I wouldn't like to get stuck behind one in a cinema.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  9. Better video of the "triangle". by hellop2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's a much higher quality video here.

    --
    How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
    1. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by Dan+East · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, that video is much higher quality, especially when he zooms in on the anomaly. However the part at the end where he suggests the sun is "giving birth" to a new planet is just totally out there.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    2. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by medv4380 · · Score: 1

      Your video looks nothing like NASAs image

    3. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      Oh, I see the triangle now! ....it's his mouse pointer.

    4. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Yes it does, look at the edge around 7:00 - not nearly as well defined, but it's there.

      It, obviously, is a highly advanced Starship fueling up on hydrogen plasma. The circle is a force field around the ship which allows it to operate close the the star. The dark tube is the fueling conduit.

      As the NASA video linked by eldavojohn shows, these are quite common. (You'll note the NASA scientist did NOT have an explanation for them, just said they were common. That IS NOT reassuring.)

      We're doomed.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    5. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by smooth+wombat · · Score: 2

      It, obviously, is a highly advanced Starship fueling up on hydrogen plasma.

      So Rama is fueling up before it heads "southward" and out of the orbital plane?

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    6. Re:Better video of the "triangle". by toriver · · Score: 2

      It, obviously, is a highly advanced Starship fueling up on hydrogen plasma.

      And then it will dock on the ISS and sell us 10 tons of Minerals, since we are a Tech level 1 Agricultural planet. The astronauts will look puzzled on captain Jameson when he asks how far it is to Zaonce.

  10. THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by SatanClauz · · Score: 5, Funny

    But they didn't! Mining stars for fuel was outlawed a long time ago!

    1. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by SeNtM · · Score: 1

      In which scifi universe are we in? Transformer's? Star Trek?

      --
      "There ought to be limits to freedom." -George W. Bush
    2. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by SatanClauz · · Score: 3, Funny
      you have 42 minutes to GTFO!!!

      He has saved your life so many times and you never even knew he was there.

    3. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      WHO are we talking about?

    4. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      The same could be said of characters/heroes in many SF universes. Your "42 minutes" suggests H2G2 universe, but your sense of outrage at the idea reminds me of the 10th Doctor[0]

      Afraid you are going to have to be more specific, after all.

      [0] I've not seen beyond him yet.

    5. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by SatanClauz · · Score: 1
    6. Re:THEY SHOULD HAVE SCANNED FOR LIFE FIRST!!! by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      TL;DR.

      Actually, I'm kidding. I didn't read because I saw "7th episode of the third series" and I'm only just starting the third series.

      At least Rose is gone.

  11. Come on, guys... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's just the "play" button...

    1. Re:Come on, guys... by PPH · · Score: 1, Funny

      OMG!!! Google has taken over the sun!!!

      How long before it will only be available for those who have a Google+ account?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Come on, guys... by robipilot · · Score: 1

      Forget the play button. How'd they get that white text to hover in space like that?

    3. Re:Come on, guys... by toriver · · Score: 1

      TWO in-space monoliths? What are the odds!

  12. Jumped the shark.... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    So Slashdot is taking the History channel direction and posting all the crackpot UFO stories now? This "story" was debunked by NASA and others before it even spread.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Jumped the shark.... by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 1

      If it wasn't for the UFO theory, it wouldn't spread in the first place.

  13. Warning by jouassou · · Score: 2

    Doomsday-theorists should be delighted.

    There is a meme for this: link

  14. OCP by Drophet · · Score: 1

    [tight beam, M32, tra. @n4.28.885.1008]
    x GCU Drophet
    It seems we have encountered an Outside Context Problem

  15. OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by retroworks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Except it's a WHITE triangle, just in front of the sun! Oh wait... it's the "play" button on youtube video. Nevermind.

    --
    Gently reply
  16. Is it.. by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 2

    ...a little bit bigger than yesterday?

  17. Update video even more interesting by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1
    1. Re:Update video even more interesting by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 1

      Yeah I wouldn't mind an explanation for this one. The thing looks like it was propelled without any momentum.

    2. Re:Update video even more interesting by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Yeah I wouldn't mind an explanation for this one. The thing looks like it was propelled without any momentum.

      You do understand that we are looking at a picture of the surface of a star? Fusion power! Now that's momentum!

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Update video even more interesting by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 1

      Yes, but I was wondering why it was chilling there on the surface of the sun and then, all of a sudden, BAM! Off she goes.
      Excuse my ignorance on the subject, am part of the biology audience of Slashdot.

    4. Re:Update video even more interesting by Wraithlyn · · Score: 1

      Well according to Wiki, "Flares are powered by the sudden (timescales of minutes to tens of minutes) release of magnetic energy stored in the corona."

      Interestingly though, it says the actual mechanism is not understood: "Although there is a general agreement on the flares' causes, the details are still not well known. It is not clear how the magnetic energy is transformed into the particle kinetic energy, nor it is known how the particles are accelerated to energies as high as 10 MeV (mega electron volt) and beyond."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare#Cause

      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    5. Re:Update video even more interesting by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1

      Maybe it wasn't propelled so much as....let go!

  18. Triangle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Methinks that the triangle is the 'Play' button in the video...

  19. It's a message from God by clickclickdrone · · Score: 3, Funny

    He's reminding us what female pubes are supposed to look like.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    1. Re:It's a message from God by snowgirl · · Score: 1

      He's reminding us what female pubes are supposed to look like.

      ... I know that our pubes are triangular shaped, but this has a gap in the middle, like it's just two lines come together. If you want that sort of pube hedging on a girl, that seems quite a bit odd... it would be like a double landing strip or something...

      --
      WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
  20. didn't see the triangle but did see a number by GReaToaK_2000 · · Score: 2

    a giant upside down '5' or a backwards '2' ...

    Go look at AIA211 at http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

    It's hard to miss. That number is 2/3 the siz of the sun...

    I think my observation is a little more realistic/interesting than some weird triangle/sphere thing. I couldn't find it.

    LAME.

    1. Re:didn't see the triangle but did see a number by GReaToaK_2000 · · Score: 1

      lol! Thanks...

      I kinda thought it was the count down that used to precede movies.

      Only the aliens must be watching it from within the sun.

  21. KORGANO by iONiUM · · Score: 2

    It must be Korgano.

    I wonder how many will even get that reference.. slashdot was my best chance of having even 1.

  22. Power UP! by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    It's a mothership feeding off the sun. It's powering up in preparation with an attack on Earth. OMG!

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
  23. Again? by lightknight · · Score: 1

    Again? Tell the aliens that they can stay, but they have to move their ship out of the way of our view. ;-)

    --
    I am John Hurt.
  24. Vogons by Kaziganthi · · Score: 1

    Should have known they'd be behind all the 2012 hoop-la

  25. I know the answer. by wbr1 · · Score: 1

    First, here is an image from SDO today where I have highlighted not one but 2 giant triangles that are starting to form a third larger triangle. Clearly this is the Triforce of legend and when the third triangle appears Gannon shall reawaken.
    http://imgur.com/bAIkb

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  26. Triangle? It's clearly a pie slice. by mark-t · · Score: 1

    The sun is just celebrating Pi day.

  27. Rooted! by drpimp · · Score: 2

    That is the only possible answer. They have rooted our Sun and found a way to tether. Anyone know when the next OTA update is going out to fix this?

    --
    -- Brought to you by Carl's JR
  28. Don't look.... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    ...or you will go blind

  29. Re:OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by tom17 · · Score: 1

    You know, I was taught at school to not use 'and' after a comma. Now, I don't like that rule as there are times when it just feels necessary. But every time I do it, I get a grating feeling inside due to what I was taught at school.

    Now I am sure there is much debate as to whether it is allowable or not, but you used it so I feel it is only right to call you on it, given the nature of your post :)

  30. Re:OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by tom17 · · Score: 1

    Oooh! another one was "Don't start a sentence with 'But'". DOH!

  31. Explanation of the wiggy Sun thing by Dauger · · Score: 2

    A NASA dude posted a video on explaining what the sphere and vortex are. Apparently they are common. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82l46fpd-ic&feature=related

  32. To see it, try this by scottbomb · · Score: 4, Informative

    Using the links in the parent post, I didn't see it either. But I think the image they're talking about can be found here:

    1. Go to http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
    2. You'll see an image of the sun in a box on the left.
    3. There's a drop-down menu in the box. Select AIA-193.
    4. View the apocalypse.

    OR... just go here: http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest_aia_211.gif

    1. Re:To see it, try this by phrostie · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the link, but I still think it's a bit of a stretch.

    2. Re:To see it, try this by Megane · · Score: 1

      Looks more like two triangles to me... like it's trying to form a Triforce.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    3. Re:To see it, try this by RobCull · · Score: 1

      Could you/someone just circle/outline this triangle I'm supposed to see in the image, and tinypic it or something?

    4. Re:To see it, try this by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure but I think it's the huge dark area in the middle, its height is about a third of the diameter of the Sun itself.

  33. There's a face visible in this image by scottbomb · · Score: 1

    Two eyes and a mouth (which appears to be eating a butterfly...).

    The sun is smiling at us!

    http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest_aia_171.gif

    1. Re:There's a face visible in this image by Forty+Two+Tenfold · · Score: 2

      Nothing agains you, bro, but apparently seeing faces where they aren't is a sign of a predisposition to schizofrenia.

      --
      Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
    2. Re:There's a face visible in this image by ElKry · · Score: 2

      No, just a sign of Pareidolia

    3. Re:There's a face visible in this image by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      Ha! I saw that immediately too. Still don't see the stupid triangle though. I see many triangle-ish shapes...but nothing that stands out as OMFG, a triangle!

    4. Re:There's a face visible in this image by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      apparently seeing faces where they aren't is a sign of a predisposition to schizofrenia

      You have it backward there. Brains are experts at seeing patterns like this. That's what they do. In fact, if you don't see faces in clouds, there's probably something wrong with you.

  34. I saw a triangle! by a_nonamiss · · Score: 3, Funny

    Using the links in the post, the only triangle I saw was the YouTube play button...

    --
    -Arthur
    Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
  35. Why doesn't /. go with the scientific summary. by Beelzebud · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You would think that a good summary would be posted here, of all places, that told what this was, and left the conspiracy theory nonsense to the comments section at youtube. So instead of news for nerds, we get news for conspiracy minded idiots.

  36. Lost triangle by docilespelunker · · Score: 1

    So that's where I put it. Thanks NASA:O)

  37. Re:OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

    "Never. Mind. Two words."

    You realize none of those are complete sentences, right? You also forgot the comma following "Of course", changing it from a declaration of your opinion or a witticism into a statement of fact, which it is not.

  38. Fourth Doctor is BEST Doctor! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    Just like there were never any sequels made to "The Matrix", there hasn't been any new Doctor Who since 1989.

    There's some sort of Americanized action series with some funny-looking guys that yell " RUN " a lot and blowing things up with a magic wand that many people mistakenly think to be Dr Who.

    --

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

  39. It's a filiment DUMBASS by jerryjnormandin · · Score: 1

    Damn. When my kids were little I used to setup the refractor telescope with the solar reflector to view solar activity. Sunspots are easy to watch and detect. also I made my own equipment to observe the corona. It's real easy actually. Just create a metal disk that's large enough to block the disk of the sun, put it in the path of your telescopic solar projector. I taught my kids how to observe just the reflection on the screen.... and NOT TO LOOK DIRECTLY through the telescope. Hmm..this dude must have watch too much sci-fi and not enough schooling. I hope this article was posted on slashdot just to prove how dumb some people are.

  40. How about by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    How about a semi-spherical crown at the top of the sun spout (akin to a water spout) it's attached to? Let's ask Lord Ockham...

  41. God? What a preposterous thought! by oneiros27 · · Score: 1

    You all are just making it way to easy w/ the setups for Red Dwarf references:

    LISTER: What makes you think these aliens exist?
    RIMMER: They must do, Lister! There's so many things that are strange and odd. So many things we don't have any explanation for.
    LISTER: Like, um, why do intelligent people buy cinema hot dogs? Do you mean that sort of weird and mysterious thing?
    RIMMER: No, Lister, I mean like the pyramids. How did they move such massive pieces of stone without the aid of modern technology?
    LISTER: They had massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips.
    RIMMER: All right, then, the Bermuda Triangle. Go on, explain that one. You know all the answers.
    LISTER: No, I agree there. That is a genuine mystery. How did a song like that ever become a hit? It defies all reason.
    RIMMER: I just don't know why I bother. I'd get more sense out of a squashed hedgehog. Lister, don't you ever stop and wonder: why are we here? What's the grand purpose?
    LISTER: Why does it have to be such a big deal? Why can't it be like, like, human beings are a planetary disease? Like the Earth's got German measles or facial herpes, right? And that's why all of the other planets give us such a wide berth. It's like, "Oh, don't go near Earth! It's got human beings on it, they're contagious!"
    RIMMER: So you're saying, Lister, you're an intergalactic, pus-filled cold sore! At last, Lister, we agree on something.
    LISTER: What do you believe in, then? Do you believe in God?
    RIMMER: God? Certainly not! What a preposterous thought! I believe in aliens, Lister.
    LISTER: Oh, right, fine. Something sensible at last.
    RIMMER: Aliens, Lister, with technology so far in advance of our own we can't even begin to imagine.
    LISTER: Well, that's not difficult. Mankind hasn't even got the technology to create a toupee that doesn't get big laughs.

    Red Dwarf, Season 1, "Waiting for God"

    --
    Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
  42. Triangle man? by dotrobert · · Score: 1

    Whatever we do, we shouldn't fight him. Triangle man kills person man. Leave this to universe man. stupid comment, powered by "they might be giants"

  43. Re:OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by Tim+C · · Score: 1

    You know what really winds me up? Articles that start paragraphs with "but".

  44. Re:OMG! I see it! I see it!!! by tom17 · · Score: 1

    Yeah I hate it when paragraphs are started with a lower case letter too :(

  45. Comet on the same day? by Pouic · · Score: 1
  46. Thanks for the actual info by jweller13 · · Score: 1

    I was hoping to find something else beside slate snarky comments so I appreciate some actual info to clarify what I'm seeing, thanks.

  47. Sun can't triforce! by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

    (and neither can Slashdot, thanks to its broken language support, but this time it's probably a good thing).

    --
    Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
  48. Vulcan: Trans Mercurian Planet by Lord+Balto · · Score: 1
    "One may have the knowledge of a Lavoisier, and still not be able to analyze, not be able even to see, except conformably with the hypnoses, or the conventional reactions against hypnoses, of one's era."

    This position was finally torpedoed (or rather, bombarded) once and for all on April 26, 1803, when 3000 meteorites fell at L'Aigle in Normandy, during the daytime, many of which were seen to fall from the sky by the good citizens of the town. Once again, a new intellectual age in the development of humanity had begun with the appearance, this time of the remnants, of the Comet of Typhon. By this time the core of the comet had settled into an orbit just over 21 years that brought it dangerously close to the earth every five orbits. The origin of these 3000 fragments, before it finally broke apart, may have been seen to cross the sun on October 10, 1802, by Fritsche, as reported by Charles Fort in The Book of the Damned. Later observations of what he thought to be the same object were used by Leverrier to calculate the orbit of what he thought to be a planet-sized object between Mercury and the sun. He called it Vulcan, and calculated that the planet would again cross the sun on March 22, 1877. On that date, the object failed to appear, perhaps so deteriorated that it was no longer visible from the earth.

    105 years after the event of 1803, on June the 30th of 1908, a much more dangerous piece of this object would fall in Siberia near the Stony Tunguska River. A few hours later and it would have taken out St. Petersburg. This core, shorn of its cometary disguise, may have been seen on the 28th. Charles Fort reports, in New Lands,

    "A great luminous object, or a meteor, that was seen at the time of the eclipse of June 28, 1908—'as if to make the date of the eclipse more memorable,' says W. F. Denning (Observatory, 31-288)."

    -- http://neros.lordbalto.com/ChapterNine.htm

  49. ? Looks like a question mark to me, not a triangle by madbrain · · Score: 1

    http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/browse/2012/03/11/20120311_152808_1024_0193.jpg

    --
    -- Julien Pierre http://www.madbrain.com/blog
  50. All these worlds are yours except Europa by gelfling · · Score: 1

    So stay the hell out of Europa.

  51. explanation by JumpSocial · · Score: 1

    It's having a baby. That's not a vortex funnel, that's the umbilical cord.

    --
    Inventor, Artist http://www.Rubber-Power.com