NASA announced that a massive solar flare that erupted Sunday should strike Earth some time tonite in the early AM hours (Correction, has struck Earth, details follow).
“This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4,” said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”
The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths. SDO was launched in February and peers deep into the layers of the sun, investigating the mysteries of its inner workings.
“We got a beautiful view of this eruption,” Golub said. “And there might be more beautiful views to come if it triggers aurorae.”
When a coronal mass ejection strikes Earth, solar plasma streams down the lines of force in Earth’s electromagnetic field, striking the upper atmosphere, where oxygen and nitrogen molecules become excited like the gas in neon signs, becoming aurorae, and triggering geomagnetic storms. Depending on the strength of the CME, aurorae can grow in size and brightness from the polar regions down to more temperate latitudes.
NASA and satellite manufacturers, however, are far more worried about damage to orbiting satellites.
The interwebs is coming alive with the first major solar storm of SC24. After remaining dormant since 2006, the Sun is finally coming alive.
UPDATE:
WATCH VIDEO: A solar eruption sends a wave of plasma hurtling towards Earth on August 1st, 2010. The event was captured by NASA satellites
Proton flux and magnetometer readings are showing beautiful spikes:
The Kp index has hit a 6 on its 0 to 9 scale. Based on this early data, this is classed as a moderate solar storm, not a major one as NASA and NOAA had earlier announced. There is minimal risk of damage to satellites.
UPDATE 2: WUWT commenter R. Gates notes that the Moscow Neutron Monitor is showing a huge drop in cosmic rays coincident with this CME, which is what you’d expect.
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But would we have been better off if we never knew what hit us?
It is, according to my understanding, a C3 flare. That is basically a smallish C class. I would expect it to produce pretty lights around the poles and that is about it. No “solar tsunami”.
While I do catch news on FOXNews.com, I treat what they say as just one of many sources of news; it’s not holy writ. Having said that, let’s see how this story is being covered in their Feature & Faces section:
Solar Tsunami to Strike Earth
Also covered is:
Stars Who Lost Their Looks
Model Wants Moms to Breastfeed
Wait, Isn’t She in Rehab? (piece on Lindsay Lohan)
And Drudge is headlining with the Fox story.
And here we were, thinking that Chicken Little had it bad…
Question?
If the Sun has no significant effects upon the Earth (climate), why does NASA et al spend billions on studying the damned thing to peer ever deeper into how it works? I accept idle curiosity as one example only!
Leon, the problem is not Fox News. The problem is the people who watch it, who think what happens to celebrities IS news.
I had reviewed my solar sites this morning and knew that it would not be a major storm. So I went on to other things. I did note however that CNN was all in a twitter. Spin, spin, spin.
Wow. The video explains the event completely. What a blast, and on such a huge scale!
Just a tad overdone!
Good modelled animations of the CME hitting Earth’s magnetosphere here:-
http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=2038-01-23%2000:44:00&window=-1&cygnetId=261
and here:-
http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=2038-01-23%2000:44:00&window=-1&cygnetId=40
HT thanks to Tallbloke
This should be an opportunity for the Arctic’s area geomagnetic stations to observe not only direct impact on the Earth’s field, but the decay time. There are some indications that the Arctic’s field and solar activity are correlated.
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/LFC1.htm
Beutiful Spikes!!!
Don’t let Mann see them – he will fold the above graphs into his data as they are Hockey Stick shaped!!
;0)
No one in the UK is running panic stricken into the streets over the CME. In fact people are more upset that the all too familiar heavy cloud cover will prevent the possibility of anyone seeing the aurora (sometimes visible from the far north of Scotland).
The panic du jour seems to be whether or not people will be harmed by eating the minuscule amounts of cloned beef (from one bull) or drinking cloned milk that has made its way into the food chain. A panic created in the media of course, taking up large chunks of dead tree press copy space and news broadcast time. Outside of the media panic bubble almost everyone else is shrugging and getting on with their lives. It seems the British public is finally becoming insulated against media hysteria in all it’s shapes and forms. They failed to scare us out of breathing now its the turn of food and drink…
crosspatch says:
August 3, 2010 at 10:30 pm
It is, according to my understanding, a C3 flare. That is basically a smallish C class. I would expect it to produce pretty lights around the poles and that is about it. No “solar tsunami”.
Exactly so; Nasa has been exggerating the solar activity for some 2 years now. They seem desperate to have soemthing major happen just in case they are wrong about the suns influence on climate.
Stayed up for the promised auroras. Cinci, OH, got some pretty stiff lightning instead.
Apropos the solar/cosmic ray connection Professor Nir Shaviv of the Racah Institute of Physics in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has a new post on his blog: – in three parts it’s well worth reading.
haha
Apparently fox news is the only news site obsessed with celebrities.
There was a beautiful aurora in Denmark and in the USA this night.
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01aug10.htm?PHPSESSID=vtmkl7cqq41e7pb20m0qqeo943
“stephen richards says:
August 4, 2010 at 12:26 am”
My thoughts too. As we’ve observed a fairly obvious cooling in recent years, contradicting ALL predictions, the MSM, esp in Australia, try to find events to prove AGW (Heatwaves, bushfires, floods etc etc) or events that “hint” at more, potential, warming events.
The Sun has no effect on climate on Earth, it’s CO2 stupid!
Doug says:
August 4, 2010 at 12:09 am
Beutiful Spikes!!!
Don’t let Mann see them – he will fold the above graphs into his data as they are Hockey Stick shaped!!
;0)
Doug it’s worse than that – this proves that due to our increased reliance on “electric trickery” – we have created a magical-netic tipping point. Unless we halt all use of this poisonous substance right now solar storms will burn us all to toast!
Why not ask Piers Corbyn at Weather Action to write a piece about what its effects might be on the weather in the weeks ahead, if anything?
According to NRK, southern Norway, Denmark and Germany AB’s were seen, probably
also SW Sweden…Stockholm {and dito archipelago} area cloudy and rain, but not as much as predicted by
SMHI, 1,5-2,5 inches, rather, [just checked] 0,25-0,75 inches. Clear skies and noctilucent clouds in the north last night…{Aug 3}
vukcevic says:
August 4, 2010 at 12:09 am
There are some indications that the Arctic’s field and solar activity are correlated.
No, this is just coincidence, and doesn’t hold up if one goes further back in time.
There are more sunspots coming around the eastern limb. All this activity may awaken some of the volcanoes. It might even wake Robert Bateman up on a cold morning!
I wonder how much outright hysteria will be generated when a really big M class flare throws material our way?
It will be something else for the mindless and ignorant repeaters in the hysteria media to get hysterical about no doubt.
The mainstream news media is changing into an outright hysteria business. The journalists, commentators, interviewers and studio anchors appear to show NO rational understanding of much of what they report on.
I understand that reporters cannot be an expert on everything, but a simple understanding of the very basics is often sorely lacking and replaced by a gullible hysteria.
A classic example that made me slackjawed in incredulity was the media’s reportage on the alleged mobile WMD labs discovered in Iraq which were in fact battlefield helium generators for weather balloons to assess targeting options for regular munitions.
How anyone could believe for a second, that the most deadly form of biological weapons known to man could be manufactured in the curtain sided trucks shown on the news is completely beyond comprehension.
Just how does one brace a spheroid in free space??
I’ve never quite come to grips with that.