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Science

Today's Solar Flare 107

Posted by CmdrTaco from the different-than-mind-flare dept.
An anonymous reader writes "X1-class solar flare today (13:30 Universal Time). Still the SOHO spacecraft offers some of the all-time greatest snapshots anywhere on the web. The flare's residual activity would be shown white and at around 9 o'clock position here. There are 3 major categories, each 10 times stronger than the next: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they generally cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth. If it were headed towards Earth, arrival is usually 48-72 hrs later (this is not coming this way). Future Mars astronauts should take a lead umbrella because one radiation day on Mars is like living at 70,000 feet on Earth." Nature is pretty.
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Today's Solar Flare More

Today's Solar Flare

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  • love the picture of the earth for size comparison, HUGE!!!
    • http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eit/images/Sun_and_ea rth.jpg Just a heads up to anyone, that the size may be to scale, but not the earth's distance from the sun. I still would like to see a to-scale model of the solar system. I guess a to-scal model of the galaxy, would be a "leetle deeficult" to make ;-)
      • we have one at our campus...it's kinda neat...the sun is about the size of a softball (maybe a little bigger) and the whole solar system goes out about 500 yards or so. so if you wanted a scale model to fit in a room, the planets would probably be too small to see.
      • (* that the size may be to scale, but not the earth's distance from the sun. *)

        I should certainly hope that the Earth is not anywhere near that close. 2/3 of the daytime sky would be pure sun. However, before our Sun goes nova, it will swell up so that about 2/3 of the sky will be sun according to current theories. (Not that any humans would live through the process to watch, barring special environ suits/houses.)

        Some museums and campuses have scale models of the solar system including distances. In the cheezier ones, the sun is represented as a painted circle instead of a physical sphere. But even with painted stuff, you can still get a better feel for the scale. The problem is that the outer planets are often way off campus. You have to go hiking around to find them. Some students get pissed when they go hiking for miles only find a little B-B for pluto. (Now that I think about it, maybe it *was* a B-B that some kid shot into the wooden marker. Nobody would know the difference.)
      • I still would like to see a to-scale model of the solar system.


        Try this program [sourceforge.net]. Granted, it's a simulator rather than a model, but it's pretty accurate.
      • "I still would like to see a to-scale model of the solar system."

        You mean like this one [mos.org]? (scroll down to "A Community Solar System")

  • Of course it happens today! (Score:3, Funny)

    by joshua404 ( 590829 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @01:30PM (#4180873)
    It -always- rains on holiday weekends!

  • All electronic devices? (Score:5, Funny)

    by G0SP0DAR ( 552303 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @01:32PM (#4180882)
    Isn't that what Intel said caused Pentium 4's to underperform? Must have been.

  • That explains everything (Score:4, Funny)

    by Schlemphfer ( 556732 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @01:36PM (#4180896) Homepage
    An X1 class solar flare, huh? No wonder I've gotten so many popup ads of provocatively dressed women staring longingly into webcams today.

  • Not unusual (Score:5, Informative)

    by matman ( 71405 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @01:41PM (#4180920)
    X class flares happen quite often, especially around the peak of the solar cycle (which we are currently moving away from). Often, they are not earth directed and do not cause anything so nice as aurora (even if they do cause blackouts on some frequencies). Keep an eye on spaceweather.com and notice how often these things occur. The flare referenced in the article was probably the one that occured on Friday from sunspot 95 and did not appear to be earth directed (it occured while SS95 was just comming into vision). I'm surprised that this flare got on the front page, since there have been larger ones recently (I can't recall exactly when - obviously, its effects were small enough).
    • I used to work for a spaceweather organization in Colorado that monitored solar events as their primary mission. We were the code pounders that organized all of there satellite data into pretty little charts and maps. You would be suprised at the number of flares that happen, most are really harmless. We always we on alert when the initail stages of the International Space Station where going up, or any space-walk done by the shuttle crew.
      • most are harmless but i cant wait to see the look on a case modders face when we get one that goes through his window into his computer... computers are put in cases for a reason... they trap interferance in and keep it out... but im not really worried... if you worry about sun flares on a regular basis your going to get an ulcer...

  • Tech Support meets BOFH (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Reminiscent of BOFH Excuse of the day:
    Your probleme is Solar Flares, call back later if the problem persists.
    (note, I'm tech support for wireless networking. YAY, less work today!)
  • Nuts! Better pack the SPF 120 sun screen. With that protection, only about 99.9999% of the UVA and UVB rays are blocked, so you would still be screwed. Best to stick with the lead parisol, people. I think lead-foil hats may catch on, not only with the crazy.

  • Odd (Score:2)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 )

    Strange how all the "plasma" looks somehow connected together.

    It does not look like a solar flare, but rather like Mr. Sun sneezed and blew his tupee off.
    • Frankly, that flare looks slightly demonic to me... but seeing as it's not headed our way, I suppose it's just a nifty looking explosion.
      • (* Frankly, that flare looks slightly demonic to me... but seeing as it's not headed our way, I suppose it's just a nifty looking explosion. *)

        Well, it is not alone [nasa.gov] in that department. My favorite is still the "middle finger nebula" near Eta Coroni (sp?). I want to buy a poster of that, but my wife won't let me put it up.
        • When I was looking for that "skull" image on Google, I had "Chandra" (the X-ray telescope) and "skull" in the search terms. Here is the summary of one of the matches:

          "Chicago Tribune | Chandra Levy found dead ... the skeletal remains of missing intern Chandra Levy. On a remote hill of a heavily
          wooded park, a man walking his dog early Wednesday discovered a skull, human ... "

          The oddest coincidences you find using search words on the web. Let's make a cult out of it. Even El Ron didn't use coincidences to their full advantage.
    • sorry man, this is a +5 funny only discussion.
      just head yourself back on over to the yahoo chat groups.
    • I am curious what all those red star-like dots are.

      I doubt they are stars or distant X-ray sources, because those are usually overwhelmed by the Sun's local radiation. In other words, they often have to turn *down* the sensativity when looking at the Sun (strong filters), but you normally have to turn *up* the sensativity to look at stars or take long exposures. I don't know what wavelength that image is in. It does not look like X-ray nor visible light. I guess infrared or ultraviolet.

      Those "star spots" are signal noise I guess, not really actual objects.
  • M-class flares are medium-sized

    That could make for some confusion in the Trek world:

    "You idiot human! I said find and land on an M-class *planet*, not an M-class flare! [sizzle sizzle]"
  • Though I'm not usually interested in the universe, I find it interesting that the sun in this picture is more or less the same as depicted in the opening to Star Trek: TNG.
  • Man is the wife going to give me shit when my wireless connection between be office and the apartment goes out.
    • (* Man is the wife going to give me shit when my wireless connection between be office and the apartment goes out. *)

      Perhaps if you are going to get accused of it, you might as well just have an affair. Pre-emptive sin :-)

      Sounds like you wore out the 'solar flare' excuse anyhow, naughty boy.
  • Are there any predictions as to the problems (blackouts, etc) that might be caused by this?

  • Not the 'Mars Radiation' virus again! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Howzer ( 580315 ) <grabshot&hotmail,com> on Sunday September 01, 2002 @02:32PM (#4181093) Homepage Journal
    This one sure gets about! Don't worry though, from the very article [astrobio.net] actually linked in the story above, the "problem" is immediately debunked:

    Fortunately, astronauts can find the protection they need indoors (from solar storms) ; shelter walls made of lightweight materials provide adequate shielding.

    For those needing more on this, go find what you need here [marssociety.org] or, for something a little more cautious and "NASA" here [nasa.gov].

    Now only if we can get people to stop running about waving their arms and shouting "The Radiation! The Radiation!" we might get something productive done... Heh! No chance of that I guess, might as well join them...

    *waves hands over head, runs about, starts screaming "The Radiation!" and giggling*

  • Nature is pretty.

    No long winded "the world is ending, hide your computer." No inane jokes. There actually is a comment so you know the Slashdot computer didn't just pass it through cause so many people were sending it. Sums it up in 3 words.
  • SOHO Spacecraft eh? Where can I accquire one of these for my small office/home office?

  • You can actually see sunspots (it'll look kinda like this [nasa.gov], but in grayscale) any time you want by projecting the sun onto paper. Binoculars work well, a telescope works even better.

    Aim your binoculars at the sun, without looking into them. If you look into them, you'll only see the steam rise from your eyes as they cook. Put a piece of white paper about 2m away from your binoculars. Cover a lense so only 1 circle shows on the paper. Finally, focus your binoculars to make the remaining circle as crisp as possible. This is easiest when you mount your binoculars on a tripod, but still works by hand.

    If you look closely, you'll see the sunspots.

    • Aim your binoculars at the sun, without looking into them. If you look into them, you'll only see the steam rise from your eyes as they cook.

      Mmmmm. Chinese food!

      Put a piece of white paper about 2m away from your binoculars. Cover a lense so only 1 circle shows on the paper. Finally, focus your binoculars to make the remaining circle as crisp as possible.

      Doesn't that burn the area around the eye-peice. True, it is not a perfect focus at that point, but perhaps hot enough to damage your binocs. The image may sometimes land on the edge of the lense and cook the glue holding it in place, or the grease and dust on the surface of the lens, making it foggy or hard to clean.

      I don't know. It sounds a little risky on the equipment if you ask me.
      • It seems to me that it probably could damage your binocs (exactly as you say). On the other hand, I used my binocs in the same fashion to view a solar eclipse, even when it was only about 20% eclipsed, and they still work fine. FWIW they are expensive 7x50 marine binoculars. They are gas-tight and filled with nitrogen.

        I guess, since binocs transmit 9x% of the light, the power absorption is very low, once you get them adjusted so that the image is going through them. (But as you say, while you are adjusting, the image may briefly get projected on the edges somewhere, which can't be good.)

        If you are worried about it, you could use something opaque like heavy paper to reduce the aperture of the objective. Or obtain some neutral density filters.

        Another way to observe the sun is with a pinhole camera, although that is a bit more involved.

        MM
        --

  • FALSE ALARM! No X class flares today! (yet) (Score:3, Informative)

    by tiohero ( 592208 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @04:16PM (#4181369)
    Nothing listed on www.spaceweather.com [spaceweather.com] indicates an X class flare at 13:00 utc today nor do any of the other usual websites.

    This is the information from SEC (NOAA) [noaa.gov]: Only a few C class events are listed:
    0221 UTC C2.8
    0955 UTC C8.8
    0930 UTC C6.7

    You can easily see all the recent events from this plot of solar X-ray flux: [noaa.gov] (updated in real-time)

    There was a minor X class flare last friday (as you can see from the plot!). This is what the poster may be refereing to:
    8/30/02 1329 UTC X1.5 Sunspot 95
    It was a limb event and isn't headed our way. The plot shows there were no X-ray flares today!

    X class flares are fairly common (once every 2-3 weeks these days...) Usually they are near the limb or backside events and don't effect us other than a little radio interference. We might see an earth directed one from region 95 in the next few days. (But don't count on it!) If there is an X-ray event indicated by www.spaceweather.com [spaceweather.com], then check this alert page [spacew.com] at Solar Terestrial Dispatch [spacew.com]. These impact predictions are often very accurate! (Only updated if there is a strong earth directed event!)

  • It's the Endurium, i tell you!
  • The comparison shot got me thinking. Suppose there was a flare, say 100 times larger then one of the common X class ones. Would the radiation be enough to whipe out life on earth?

    Anyone have any idea. I suppose there really isn't much point in worrying about it though :P
    • Well if it were possible, then we wouldn't be here. :-)

      After billions and billions of years we would of been hit by one by now and wiped out.

      There have been at least 3 killer asteriods that have done mass devistation in earth's life time including a recently discovered one that probably wiped out all lifeforms except bacteria about 3 1/2 billion years ago. There are no fossils before the event because whole mountians with the fossilized rock were crushed into sand by 2 mile high waves, which travelled twice the speed of sound, and travelled over and over again untill the energy was dissapated. Even moutains higher then a few miles high(unlikely back then)were to exist, the waves and their speed would easily blow them away into dust. The one after that was about 750 million years ago which wiped out %90 of the earth's lifeforms caused again by giant waves that engulfed most of earth and a mini ice age that followed. Then you all know about the one 65 million years ago which killed the dinosaurs. All the recent asteriods however have been getting smaller and smaller. I do not know if we have just been lucky or if the bigger ones have been getting smacked into smaller ones in space. Also their have been hundreds of tiny asteriods that were powerfull enough to wipe out whole city's and change climate world wide. THey happen every couple thousand years. I wonder how big the tisuami's from those are if they hit the ocean. Yes, asteriods are a threat and we need to take them seriously unlike solar flares.

    • Well, first of all, the flare classes are logarithmic, so X10 actually is 100 times stronger than X1, "One of the common X class ones". I suspect like to earthquakes, there are strict limits to how strong solar-flare is possible from a specific sun.

      We actually had something in that category during this solar-peak; nobody is exactly sure how strong it was, though, because it flooded out all the satellites set to monitor those events for a good while, so the size had to be estimated.

      Bottom line is, it had no really observable effects to the Earthlings, even the CME missed us enough that as I recall it wasn't much of an aurora-show. That's why we have the atmosphere, it protects us from lot of cosmic stuff, and even from things out of our own solar system.

      Unless you count few mysterious radio/television blackouts as observable effects, ofcourse - though sometimes I suspect most Earthlings would notice that better than if a spaceship landed on their front-yard, so it's all relative...

      One type of "solar flare" there is that you probably could worry about; when stars collapse, they shoot immense gamma-bursts off their poles. Were Earth to be caught in the way of such an event from a star in our part of the galaxy, all life (Save for the deepest oceans) here would likely get fried in an instant.

      Some scientists theorize this might be the reason of some of the mass-extinctions Earth has seen in its past, from stars far away not to kill everything on their way. Unlike asteroids, there isn't much that could even conceivably be done, though, so it's perhaps one thing better to not worry about.

      Back on out own Sun, I think sub-cycles in solar activity might have caused increased mutations during some periods, leading to the creation of new dominant species (Including humans) which have then quickly taken over as conditions have become more stable. In genetic algorithms this is known as "annealing". It might have caused events that to us look like mass-extinctions.

  • Insightful Quote of the Year (Score:3, Funny)

    by Garridan ( 597129 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @04:44PM (#4181439)
    "Nature is pretty" -- CmdrTaco
  • According to the directory listing [nasa.gov], that photo is from March 15,1999. I know it takes a while until submitted articles are posted, but this seems a little excessive.
  • "When God Lights His Farts!"

  • Realtime movies of last 48 hours (Score:3, Informative)

    by Cally ( 10873 ) on Sunday September 01, 2002 @06:27PM (#4181701) Homepage
    The best pics for my money are at:
    [nasa.gov]
    http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mpe g/

    In particular this:
    [nasa.gov]
    http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/curre nt _c2.mpg

    is a reasonably small (3Mb) mpeg of the last 48 hours... the flare is right at the end of the sequence. Notice that although it appears on the right limb of the sun first, it's also pretty symetrical - indictating that the thing's coming straight for us.

    Incidentally, if you've ever fancies getting your name on a comet, there are people who sit in front of those pages pressing ^r constantly in order to be the first to identify a new sungrazer. No, there's no software sitting processing the images in realtime for comet-like objects, and they (or rather, their ion tails) show up nicely.
    Enjoy!

  • What does "CCD Bakeout" mean? Does it mean NASA is suffering the /. effect, or does it mean a flare physically cooked the CCD elements, or something simpler, related to maintenance?
    • It is maintenance related. A nice explanation can be found here [nasa.gov].
      • Pfew. I was worried for a second there.

        The SOHO [estec.esa.nl] pictures are just beatiful, especially the movies [estec.esa.nl].

        I'm not an astronomer, but I think this big one is visible on the "LASCO C2" just around the '11:00' timestamp on Sept 1.

        Too bad the EIT movies are not current. I guess it was almighty Murphy who choose this week-end for the flare...
  • Actually better then lead would be water, as this would stop most radiation and is obviously much more pratical as its something you need anyways. Robert Zubrin's plan for Mars calls for them having a room in the spacecraft surrounded by water for when there is a solar storm on the way to Mars, and just piling some rocks on the top of their building while on Mars (IIRC).

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