UPDATE: Leif Svalgaard provides us a magnetic movie (SDO HMI) which I’ve also converted and added below. It’s a real treat too.
This is truly an impressive animation from the folks at the Solar Dynamics Observatory. I’ve converted it to YouTube so more people can watch it. It shows the 5 day time lapse formation of massive sunspot group 1158 from nothing. What’s neat is how the perspective is maintained. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Less than a week ago, sunspot 1158 didn’t exist. Now it is wider than the planet Jupiter and unleashing the strongest solar flares since December 13th, 2006, including an X-class solar flare that we covered here first on WUWT. Video below.
Solar Magnetics Movie
The HMI (Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager) on the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) caught massive sunspot group 1158 in the process of forming from nothing. It is quite an impressive animation. Animation courtesy of Dr. Phil Scherrer at Stanford via Dr. Leif Svalgaard who writes:
“What to note is how the magnetic field ‘bubbled’ up in a very mixed state [black=negative, white=positive polarity]. Then the two polarities separate and move to areas of like polarity: white to white and black to black, in the process assembling sunspots. Watch also how the incessant convection ‘eats’ away at the boundaries of large, mature spots [late in the clip].”
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Steven Kopits says:
February 16, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Let repeat the desire for scale. Just how big are those things?
Try these,
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/bobclive/sunspotdrawingGassendi-1.jpg
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/bobclive/sunspotplate.jpg
“Bob Barker says:
February 16, 2011 at 2:22 pm
It is amusing to me that no sooner had the prognosticators at NASA made their latest sunspot forecast adjustment downward, the sun throws them one “out of bounds”. Yes I know they are not forecasting daily events, but still it must have them muttering to themselves. They sure have had a time with cycle 24.”
It is a new phenomenon that has only been observed in the last few years.
It is the “Al Gore Effect”
Ray says:
February 16, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Is the area of white equals the area of black? Is there a balance in the polarities or are they off balance… causing explosions?
There is balance, but the fields can get twisted up [watch some of the spots rotate and also move relative to others]. That twisting stores energy in the magnetic field above the spots and when the energy density becomes too high, things go ‘bang’.
Robert of Ottawa says:
February 16, 2011 at 3:40 pm
What I find intriguing about sunspots is that the centre appears BLACK – that is, not emitting any light. That must mean that the sunspot goes down to a layer that is opaque, or cold(er).
The interior of a sunspot looks darker because it is a bit colder than the surrounding photosphere, but that is only by contrast. It is actually VERY hot, like 4000-5000 degrees Centigrade and by itself could be brighter than white hot iron. In fact, if you removed all parts of the sun outside the ‘black’ part of the smallest sunspot you could see and only let that black part hang in the sky like the Cheshire Cat’s grin, that tiny black spot would shine brighter than the full Moon.
To me it looks like a thunder storm being created as seen from above or even a lava lamp. Simple but still looks like it. Just my two cents.
Leif,
will the associated CMEs be strong enough to cause a significant Forbush decrease?
R says:
February 16, 2011 at 2:21 pm
And can I ask another dumb question is this matter or energy?
Both: matter that radiates energy
Vinnster says:
February 16, 2011 at 4:11 pm
It is amusing to me that no sooner had the prognosticators at NASA made their latest sunspot forecast adjustment downward, the sun throws them one “out of bounds”.
Weak cycles often show very large fluctuations, e.g solar cycle 14: http://www.leif.org/research/SC14.png
These are beautiful to observe and trying to understand is as challenging.
Yet enjoy while we still have a satellite up there – because with the current cuts in research and programs, these are all to vanish quite soon. That’s the choice you’re pushing.
Konrad says:
February 16, 2011 at 4:34 pm
will the associated CMEs be strong enough to cause a significant Forbush decrease?
I would think so. Depending on what you mean by ‘significant’, but certainly observable.
Konrad says:
February 16, 2011 at 4:34 pm
will the associated CME
Time to make some prediction: since the magnetic field in 1158 points roughly northwards [white is out, black is into the Sun], the CME should be born with a leading edge that has northwards field. That should mean that initially the geomagnetic storm will not be very strong. Whether it later strengthens depend on how much the southward field on the ‘backside’ of the magnetic cloud is compressed. So, I predict a moderate storm only.
Fantastic stuff but sadly I’d need to kick over a train load of Leif’s copper buckets before I could even start to comprehend what’s going on here; far too easy to liken it to familiar phenomena here on Earth. How much light do plasma chamber experiments throw on this and should we perhaps be building bigger and better ones?
The Hinode spacecraft also captured [some years ago] the birth of an active region at high resolution and cadence:
And some comments back then:
http://www.physorg.com/news109430733.html
It blows my mind that there are stars out there that are, if I read the text correctly…5000 LIGHT YEARS?? in diameter?? Holy cow!
A series of short movie clips associated with the recent X2.2 flare arising from NOAA AR11158 (including the movies appearing above in this blog entry) have been assembled into a 10-minute YouTube movie:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJViaJ_kgZ0&w=640&h=390]
This compilation was produced by Karel Schrijver of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab (the PI institution of SDO/AIA).
The techniques that work only until a prediction is published are called “AlGore-isms”. Correct algorithms produce reliable predictions.
CCR
Looks like mitosis.
It’s alive….ALIVE!
Uber cool. Thanks Leif and Anthony.
AJB says:
February 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm
How much light do plasma chamber experiments throw on this and should we perhaps be building bigger and better ones?
The laboratory experiments have difficulties in recreating space environments. They are are not big enough and the plasma is not thin enough and they have walls that interfere. We have, on the other hand, anyway been able to learn a lot about some of the fundamental processes that go on from laboratory experiments, e.g. http://www.leif.org/EOS/yamada10rmp.pdf
Underlying almost every phenomenon that we observe are electric currents that are generated by movement of plasma across magnetic fields, or separating magnetic fields of different directions. These currents are often filamentary and unstable and prone to explosions [as we just witnessed]. Space plasmas are very poor in sustaining electric currents as these simply short out. On the other hand, magnetic fields essentially ‘live forever’ in a space plasma, being showed around by the plasma.
SABR Matt says:
February 16, 2011 at 6:40 pm
It blows my mind that there are stars out there that are, if I read the text correctly…5000 LIGHT YEARS?? in diameter?? Holy cow!
You must have misread something. There are no stars that big.
Just a reminder this has no affect on the temperature of Earth. Even thou it is the size of Jupiter. The temperature is only affected by the SUVs /sarc
Marc DeRosa says:
February 16, 2011 at 7:00 pm
A series of short movie clips […] have been assembled into a 10-minute YouTube movie
Thanks Marc. This beats the 3 gigabyte file that was distributed before 🙂
Trevor J says:
February 16, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Just a reminder this has no affect on the temperature of Earth.
Hold the sarc, even the very largest flares [and this one wasn’t] only increase the energy output of the Sun by 0.0003 of what we get all the time.
Hey Leif,
The reference by SABR Matt (February 16, 2011 at 6:40 pm) to stars being LIGHT YEARS in diameter is in reference to
as posted by John F. Hultquist – February 16, 2011 at 3:08 pm
On there, it showed a White Dwarf at ~800 LY and a Red Dwarf at ~5000 LY … SABR and even I took that to mean Light Years.
(see, even nubes are on this site)
captainfish says:
February 16, 2011 at 8:50 pm
The reference by SABR Matt (February 16, 2011 at 6:40 pm) to stars being LIGHT YEARS in diameter is in reference to […] and even I took that to mean Light Years.
Some major confusion on part of the producer of that clip. It also says that the sun has a diameter of 8 lm [probably ‘light minutes’]. The distance to the Sun is 8 light minutes. The distance to Rigel is 800 ly and to VY CMaj 5000 ly, so the numbers are indeed light years, but they represent the distance from the earth, not the diameter of the star…
Wow that was amazing and beautiful!
Very cool stuff.