Biggest solar storm in years now bombarding Earth (+video)
The two huge solar flares that erupted on the sun on Tuesday have
produced a wave of charged particles that are now glancing off our
planet's magnetic field.
This
image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun as it
unleashed an X5.4-class solar flare at 7:04 p.m. EST on Tuesday. The
flare appears as the bright spot in the upper left.
NASA/SDO
Enlarge
The biggest solar storm in five years is battering our planet right
now, and may cause disruptions to satellites, power grids and
communications networks over the next 24 hours, space weather experts
say.
At midnight UT the active solar region 1429 unleashed a powerful
X5.4-class flare. X-class solar flares are the strongest of the flares.
They are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and
long-lasting radiation storms.
It appears that right after the large X5.4 flare another slightly lower,
X1 flare (5 times smaller) occurred. You can clearly see a wave going
across the Sun.
NASA says that they are still gathering data and that the Space Weather Forecast Lab will have updates available soon.
Two
strong solar flares erupted
from the surface of the sun late Tuesday (March 6), blasting a wave of
plasma and charged particles toward Earth. After speeding through space
at 4 million mph, this eruption of material — called a coronal mass
ejection (CME) — should be hitting Earth now.
The storm is
expected to create strong disruptions due to an odd combination of
intense magnetic, radio and radiation emissions, making it the strongest
overall solar storm since December 2006, even though the flare that
triggered it was not the largest, space weather officials said.
March 8, 2012 12:55 PM
Biggest solar storm in years hits, so far so good
WASHINGTON — One of the strongest solar storms in years engulfed Earth
early Thursday, but scientists say the planet may have lucked out.
Hours
after the storm arrived, officials said were no reports of problems
with power grids, GPS, satellites or other technologies that are often
disrupted by solar storms.
But that still can change as the storm
shakes the planet's magnetic field in ways that could disrupt
technology but also spread colorful Northern Lights. Early indications
show that it is about 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that
hits Earth.
MORE:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57393455/biggest-solar-storm-in-years-hits-so-far-so-good/
ESA
An artist's interpretation of the European
Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft orbiting the second planet in
our solar system.
updated
2 hours 38 minutes ago
Strong radiation from one of the most intense solar storms in
the past five years has temporarily "blinded" a European spacecraft in
orbit around Venus, and mission controllers are now racing to fix the
problem.
The
European Space Agency's
Venus Express probe,
which is located much closer to the sun than Earth, experienced high
doses of radiation from the recent solar storm, and on Tuesday at 8:40
p.m. EST, spacecraft operators reported that Venus Express' onboard
startracker cameras had become blinded.
MORE:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46670499/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T1kvn_nlsbY
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss <
http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - <
gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
<
http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: <
http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: <
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: <
http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
<
http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
<
http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
<
http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
<
http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
<
http://garespypost.tripod.com >
*
Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
<
http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
<
http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
