Largest Sunspot In a Quarter Century Spews Flares

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Largest Sunspot In a Quarter Century Spews Flares

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 28, 2014 @05:06PM from the good-thing-mother-earth-knows-how-to-duck-and-weave dept.

schwit1 writes: The largest sunspot seen in about a quarter century has produced another powerful X-class flare today, the sixth in less than a week. "This was the sixth X-class solar flare from NOAA 2192, a record for the number of X-class flares generated by a single group so far this solar cycle. It was also the fourth X-class flare since last Friday, continuing a period of intense flaring activity. This sunspot group has grown again a bit, and maintains its magnetic complexity. A degradation of the HF radio-communication was observed over South-America, the Caribbean, and West-Africa." The last sentence is referring to some radio communications blackouts that have occurred in these areas because of the flares.

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Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 17:18 · Score: 0, Funny

The world is ending! Obama is the anitchrist! 2016 is the end of humanity!
Time to arm ourselves and run to the shelters! Jesus save us!
1. Re:Oh shit by ls671 · 2014-10-28 18:08 · Score: 1
  
  It's only giant alien space ships that drive straight into the sun thus causing solar flares. I have seen it on William Shatner's "Weird or What?" tv show.
  
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  Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
2. Re:Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 18:12 · Score: 0
  
  Don't worry, if there were an actual dangerous solar flare, we'd be shielded by magical trees that create an oxygen shield.
3. Re:Oh shit by FatdogHaiku · 2014-10-28 22:04 · Score: 2
  
  Fuel and oxygen... we'll be fine as long as there's no concentrated amount of great heat or other source of ignition.
  
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4. Re:Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 06:34 · Score: 0
  
  Just eyeballing it, but the sunspot appears to be pointing 20 degrees or so below the plane of the ecliptic and it's turning away from us. So we aren't really in danger of big flares again unless it sticks around for 20 more days or so. It would be nice if actual numbers were provided in one of these articles instead of (or at least in addition to) the sensationalism.
5. Re: Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 12:15 · Score: 0
  
  I'm not sure that a Middle Eastern Carpenter is qualified for the job.
Good to see it by the_Bionic_lemming · 2014-10-28 17:20 · Score: 2

I'm glad we didn't enter into a maunder minimum like folks were nervous about.
Having no summer to grow food worldwide would be pretty devastating for many people.

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_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
1. Re:Good to see it by garyisabusyguy · 2014-10-28 17:22 · Score: 1
  
  Does one BIG sunspot count for hundreds of little ones?
  
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  Wherever You Go, There You Are
2. Re:Good to see it by the_Bionic_lemming · 2014-10-28 17:29 · Score: 2
  
  I don't think sunspots can actually count - regardless of their size.
  
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  _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
3. Re:Good to see it by I'm+New+Around+Here · 2014-10-28 17:31 · Score: 1
  
  Of course not. They have no fingers.
  
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4. Re:Good to see it by SpankiMonki · 2014-10-28 17:41 · Score: 1
  
  I'm glad we didn't enter into a maunder minimum like folks were nervous about.
  I, for one, was hoping for a *extended* Maunder Minimum. Because global warming and stuff.
5. Re:Good to see it by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 18:35 · Score: 0
  
  I, for one, was hoping for a *extended* Maunder Minimum. Because global warming and stuff.
  I'd rather have the fake problem than the real problem.
6. Re:Good to see it by Thanshin · 2014-10-28 19:57 · Score: 1
  
  ...Yet.
7. Re:Good to see it by l0n3s0m3phr34k · 2014-10-28 21:49 · Score: 1
  
  Sure they do! Just thousands of them that you just can't see without some optical help.
8. Re:Good to see it by Mashiki · 2014-10-29 01:20 · Score: 1
  
  Even in the maunder minimum the growing was fine, harsher but fine. But considering during that minimum there was large solar flare events, it doesn't mean that we're not entering into one anyway.
  
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  Om, nomnomnom...
Quarter Century by Lotana · 2014-10-28 17:36 · Score: 1

Why not just say "In the last 25 years"?!
1. Re:Quarter Century by the_Bionic_lemming · 2014-10-28 17:43 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Is that what a quarter century means?
  Wow!
  
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2. Re:Quarter Century by flu1d · 2014-10-28 17:47 · Score: 1
  
  Or the last 650 fourtnights
3. Re:Quarter Century by TheInternetGuy · 2014-10-28 17:50 · Score: 1
  
  Why not just say "In the last 25 years"?!
  Or 788400000000 milliseconds
  
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  If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
4. Re:Quarter Century by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 17:52 · Score: 0
  
  It's as if somebody had to pick a unit of measurement, and did so.
  Oh teh noes!
5. Re:Quarter Century by Truth_Quark · 2014-10-28 17:56 · Score: 1
  
  Or nearly 79 million Babylonian gesh.
6. Re: Quarter Century by O('_')O_Bush · 2014-10-28 23:57 · Score: 1
  
  Sensationalism. Quarter-century sounds a lot more impressive than "since about 1990".
  
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  while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
7. Re: Quarter Century by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 01:02 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Sweet I'm going to switch the wording on my resume that I keep updated just in case:
  -Has been a Unix/Linux systems administrator for over one-fifth of a century!!
  Much better.
8. Re:Quarter Century by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 02:05 · Score: 0
  
  Why not just say "In the last 25 years"?!
  Or 788400000000 milliseconds
  788923800000, according to the Gregorian calendar.
9. Re:Quarter Century by userw014 · 2014-10-29 02:07 · Score: 1
  
  Because it implies a range. A "about a quarter century" is (approximately) 25 years +/- 12.5 years (12.5 years to 37.5 years). Whereas 25 years is (approximately) 300 months +/- 6 months.
  Or just because. Poetic license.
  Remember not to ever split your infinitives.
10. Re: Quarter Century by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 13:46 · Score: 0
  
  In all ways keep your infinitives to yourself.
Today the 27th day by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 18:28 · Score: 0

So, as the link in the "another powerful X-class flare today" says, today is the 27th day. Wow, that must've been one powerful solar-flare, it threw us clear back two days!
16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any value by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 19:20 · Score: 0

So this is what Slashdot has become.
Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 19:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

Thanks for elevating the discussion. Now, feel free to go back to the clusterfuck site you think is better. Or just go. Away.
News for noobs? by scsirob · 2014-10-28 19:32 · Score: 0

At one time the tagline for Slashot was "News for nerds, stuff that matters".
This stuff matters, but adding an explanations for the impact of solar flares on RF communication makes it obvious that Slashdot is no longer for nerds.
Sad..

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1. Re:News for noobs? by pegdhcp · 2014-10-28 19:47 · Score: 1
  
  When I saw
  
  A degradation of the HF radio-communication
  part, I was puzzled. If that was a reference to a network close to Sun, they should not use HF on satellites. Then I read the whole sentence and felt sorry for the need of explanation...
Doctor Who by three333 · 2014-10-28 19:35 · Score: 1

Didn't the latest episode of Doctor Who tell us this already?

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Three is my favourite number
1. Re:Doctor Who by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 21:17 · Score: 0
  
  Uh Oh. The trees around me are DROPPING their leaves. Am I going to be unprotected?
Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by Lotana · 2014-10-28 20:11 · Score: 2

What is there to discuss?
This is yet another sensetionalist blurb article: Oh no! A large sunspot! Communication might be affected!!! Once you discuss one of these useless stories, there is nothing left to discuss.
Yes, there is a sunspot. They occur all the time. So what?
Soo.... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-28 20:16 · Score: 0

When does the Earth melt from too many neutrinos?
1. Re: Soo.... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 13:49 · Score: 0
  
  I just had those for breakfast!
Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by TheRaven64 · 2014-10-28 22:44 · Score: 3, Insightful

So this is what Slashdot has become.
No, this is what Slashdot has always been. I started regularly reading Slashdot around 2000, and back then there were posts just like yours decrying the state of Slashdot today, pining for some golden age. And yet, looking at the archives, not much had changed.

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Sun spots earth. Pukes. by tinkerton · 2014-10-28 23:55 · Score: 1

Ok, maybe I'm hineininterpretierung this a bit
Clearly Global Warming by blogagog · 2014-10-28 23:59 · Score: 1, Funny

Recent computer models predicted that increased CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere would cause catastrophic sunspots. Yet more proof that global warming is real!
1. Re: Clearly Global Warming by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 01:11 · Score: 0
  
  "If history has taught me anything, it is that people have ALWAYS thought that the world was on the brink of extinction, that something catastrophic was always near and unavoidable. But the world keeps on spinning, life keeps on living, and the sun keeps on rising."
2. Re: Clearly Global Warming by lexlthr · 2014-10-29 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  What is this quote from?
Yeah, but the sun several light years away by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 03:35 · Score: 0

So nothing for a lot of years from this.
Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by jafac · 2014-10-29 04:57 · Score: 1

I do not disagree with you.

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Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-29 05:59 · Score: 0

...regularly reading Slashdot around 2000,...
So, about a quarter century then? I'll show myself out...
Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by DNS-and-BIND · 2014-10-29 06:35 · Score: 1

I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit. In 1998-99, there were definitely a plethora of insightful posts contributed by smart people. There weren't even user-ids. Everyone just rejoiced that there was this cool science-based weblog out there. Then, it started getting popular, and what do you know, suddenly every single thread had some idiot claiming "First Post!" (which was a driver for the moderation system BTW). Huh...this is right about the time you joined...maybe you were part of the problem?
So this is what Slashdot might have been when you joined but it was not always ever thus. Stop lying. No, seriously, stop telling people that your way is always right. It's not, and you need to stop saying it.

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Re:16 posts containing banal "jokes", 0 of any val by TheRaven64 · 2014-10-29 20:36 · Score: 1

Let me guess. You were reading at +2 back then?

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