Telescope Spots Solar Tsunami

scdeimos writes "The prototype of a new solar patrol telescope in New Mexico recorded a tsunami-like shock wave rolling across the visible face of the Sun following a major flare event on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The shock wave, known as a Moreton wave, also destroyed or compressed two filaments of cool gas at opposite sides of the solar hemisphere." From the article: "'These large scale 'blast' waves occur infrequently, however, are very powerful. They quickly propagate in a matter of minutes covering the whole Sun, sweeping away filamentary material,' said Dr. K. S. Balasubramaniam. 'It is unusual to see such powerful waves encompassing the whole sun from ground based observatories. Its significance comes from the fact that these waves are occurring near solar minimum, when intense activity is yet to pick up.'"

Re:

[Ninjaesque One]

Y'know, the solar tsunami could cause geocide [qntm.org], if it were to happen in our dear Earth.

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[node 3]

Personally I think we should turn off or at least dim the Sun anyway. It is, unlike CO2, the ultimate cause of global warming.

The Sun is the source of the heat for global warming, but it's the CO2 that keeps it on Earth.

There is something reminiscent of the modern Republican party in your response, though. Oversimplification, not accepting personal responsibility, and proposing an impossible solution. The only thing missing is you haven't suggested paying for it by lowering taxes.

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[SamSim]

That was a joke, son. I'm not a Republican and I dislike being modded down for being accused of being one.

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[node 3]

I'm sure you didn't get modded down just because of me. The only thing in your post that implied "I'm joking" was "turn off ... the Sun". Republicans actually do blame the Sun entirely (well, the Sun and volcanos, I think. Really, anything except humans) for global warming, so really, even if you aren't of the addled-minded, you certainly sounded like one.

In my defense, you'll note I didn't say you were a Republican, just that your post was very similar to Republican rhetoric.

(In other words, don't blame me

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[Archangel Michael]

Off Topic, I know. So don't flame me too bad. But I just couldn't let the partisan idiot go by with his snide remarks.

"There is something reminiscent of the modern Republican party in your response, though. Oversimplification, not accepting personal responsibility, and proposing an impossible solution."

Actually, the same can be said of Democrats as well. End Poverty, tax the rich. As for personal responsibility and such, go talk to the PI lawyers that line the coffers of democrats running for office.

"The on

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[node 3]

I just couldn't let the partisan idiot go by with his snide remarks.

I'll ignore that "snide remark" (in fact, I didn't insult the OP at all, yet you did insult me, right off the bat even), since getting too hung up over it doesn't do any good.

I get the impression (correct me if I'm wrong) that you aren't a Dem or a Repub. You (I gather) find both Dems and Repubs to be pretty much the mirror image of each other, both equally bad, just in opposites of sorts. I'm not going to defend the short-comings of the De

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[geobeck]

Personally I think we should turn off or at least dim the Sun anyway.

How about we only turn it off at night?

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[mr_goofy]

You mean to say Gandhi and not Ghandi.

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[Alien Being]

"How long..."

Longer than it took someone to imply that he is unfairly judged as a walking disaster.

Re:What does LordKano & the South have in comm

[Travoltus]

LOL!!

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[aplusjimages]

How soon till someone says it isn't Bush's fault it was an unresolved problem by previous administrations?

Aha!

[locokamil]

So that's where Disaster Area's stunt ship crash landed...

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[Anonymous Coward]

An non-expanding langston field - that's what you need when you emerge inside a star!

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[Broken scope]

QUICKLY! We must check for an improbability field.

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[MichaelSmith]

Look for signs of sanity in Government

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[Lemmeoutada Collecti]

Oh noes! I've found signs of sanity in government! A judge made a sane ruling in the SCO case last week! Quick, we need concrete bunkers before the concert starts!

Seriously radical.

[CosmeticLobotamy]

The shock wave, known as a Moreton wave, also destroyed or compressed two filaments of cool gas at opposite sides of the solar hemisphere.

It totally sucks. I mean that was some seriously awesome gas it destroyed. I'm so bummed right now.

Re:Seriously radical.

[Tuqui]

Did you check the filaments photos? [space.com]. It looks like the sun is asking something.

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[Joebert]

That, or the reason Superman & the Riddler never got along was because they were both from out of this world.

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[fyoder]

No, that's just an ad agency experiment. Check the caption [space.com]. Looks promising, but clearly a ways to go before they can do multicharacter messages.

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[sevenofnine]

You cant read the fineprint? it says do not look into the sun! its not an adverticement, its a warning sign. Due to heavy storms the ! has become ? guess the tech still doesnt work out well.

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[Anonymous Coward]

No, that's just an ad agency experiment.

I got it. the symbols are

"? . / i"

Is clear that is an ad from Slashdot = i?/. => I ask at slashdot.

Wooah. Slashdot Solar Ads!! and Google didn't even begin one.

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[Chacham]

Heh. Very cute. :)

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[mverwijs]

42

stupid nasa

[elgatozorbas]

Amen, dude! Besides, those nasa guys weren't even smart enough to take the pictures during daytime. The sun is all dark and grey.

I can't believe this.

[idonthack]

Nobody has mentioned yet how fucking awesome this is. I expected you would, with your "seriously radical" subject line, but you didn't.

It's a huge tsunami of terrible nuclear fire. A gigantic shock wave of deadly radioactive plasma. Large enough and forceful enough to sustain itself across the surface of the sun, obliterating the few visible features it has. You're in awe when somebody says "the explosion would be visible from the moon" but this is unfathomably larger. It's immense enough to be an astonish

Remember the tourists!

[EmbeddedJanitor]

They're the ones with real news value.

easy...

[Anonymous Coward]

First it turns everybody brown, then it kills them.

Please donate ...

[jfclavette]

... to my solar tsunami relief fund. Wire your money to my Swiss bank account and I'll see that the money be properly used. I have confidence in Slashdot's readers generosity.

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[dangitman]

I adopted a filament of gas who was a refuge from the tsunami. I urge you all to do likewise and open your hearts and your houses to the victims.

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[TranscendentalAnarch]

Angelina Jolie was seen in Los Angeles today, closely watching her newly adopted filament of gas, a refuge of the recent solar tsunami.

Right this moment...

[Quiet_Desperation]

...thousands of scientists (and people who think they are scientists) are feverishly work how to turn this news into [1] some sort of apocalyptic press release and [2] grant applications.

Me? Cynical? Nah!

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[permawired]

SO which science do you work for?

Oh, great!

[Crash McBang]

How's FEMA gonna handle this?

Are they gonna send aid after it gets dark?

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[__aaclcg7560]

FEMA is too busy trying to save itself. Superman will take care of this. When the Fortress of Solitude melts over while he's bonking Lois Lane, the tsunami rays will bounce off his naked "buns of steel" and cancel out the rest of the tsunami rays. Problem sovled with FEMA bonking anything.

I'm sure they have their best men at it

[merikari]

First they were told to find a place where the sun don't shine, and now this... I'm sure they are doing a hackuva job.

Tinfoil Hat

[killa62]

Good thing my Tinfoil hat protects me from these governmental ()*N*$VY^I@IVN(: B!NO CARRIER

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[Kingrames]

Wow, I must be really geeky, because I tried to read that as 1337 before I realized it was just randomly assorted characters.

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[Cerberus7]

I think that speaks volumes about "1337."

Northern lights

[oddeirik]

With this recent sun activity people in the northern regions of the globe should be able to see Northern Lights, probably stronger than the usual flares since the sun is now (almost) at a minimum.
Although I guess it's a bit of bad luck for Discovery and it's crew with the chance of powerful radiation storms...

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[Vreejack]

Only if the flares are pointed at us. But most flares (this one included) are not.

Re:passé

[spun]

It's a veritable tidal-wave of tsunami metaphors...

In Soviet Russia

[WetCat]

Seriously, in Moscow I just experienced short random interruptions in AM broadcasts jiust right now. Moments of silence.
Could it be the result of a solar flare?

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[SeaDour]

Remember this flare was last Wednesday. The sun is actually quiet at the moment -- check www.spaceweather.com for the latest info.

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[Awod]

Forty three comments (including this one) and not one serious post. All either trolls or attempts at humor. Slashdot is actually becoming painful to read.

make that 44.

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[gordguide]

OK, I'll bite.

I read the article but my very first question wasn't answered. So:
Anybody have any back-of-the-envelope or better calculations as to how fast this wave must be moving? The Sun's a pretty big bit of real estate, and this looks like it was much, much faster than an earthbound/waterborne Tsunami.

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[ThogScully]

I was wondering the same thing. Not that anyone really has a realistic sense of scale when it comes to things as big as the sun, but the frames in that animation could be separated by seconds or hours and that article gives no indication one way or the other. I guess either way, it's safe to say "really fast." It sure didn't take days from what I gather and anything that travels around the sphere of the sun in less than a day has got to be moving pretty quick.
-N

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[justthinkit]

This is why I give "Funny" modded posts a -3 modifier in my preferences and then browse for comments modded +2 or higher. Not that I don't have a sense of humor [brianregan.com].

How many tons? Moretons!

[maillemaker]

Kilotons, Megatons, now Moretons!

Speed of the wave

[LotsOfPhil]

"They quickly propagate in a matter of minutes covering the whole Sun, sweeping away filamentary material."

The circumference of the sun is 4,373,000 km. Call "matter of minutes" 10 minutes = 600 seconds. Divide circumference by two since the wave propagates in both directions. The wave is travelling at 3600 km/s. That's pretty damn fast.

Cool pic if you don't want to RTFA

[xzqx]

An animation [space.com] showing the wave moving across the sun.

Another Animation Of The Event

[szyzyg]

This one shows the whole event and then replays it zoomed in on the sunspot and on the filament destruction

http://meems.imeem.com/iQrVatKB/video/wPgDIh4_/sol ar_tsunami/ [imeem.com]

A couple of days ago if you googled 'Solar Tsunami' the top hit was from some nutter who had a whole website that was promoting the theory that underneath the photosphere there was a solid iron-silica surface, thankfully the scientists had enough imagination to call it a tsunami rather than a Moreton wave.

I can think of some other crackpot science that needs to be googlebombed into non-significance.