Tag Archives: solar activity

Static from the Sun

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SOLAR STATIC: Active sunspot 1302 has turned the sun into a shortwave radio transmitter. Shock waves rippling from the sunspot’s exploding magnetic canopy are exciting plasma oscillations in the sun’s atmosphere. The result: Bursts of static are issuing from the loudspeakers of shortwave radios on Earth. Amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft recorded this sample from his backyard observatory in New Mexico on Sept. 24th:


Dynamic spectrum: The horizontal axis is time (h:m:s), the vertical axis is frequency (MHz). Image credit: Wes Greenman

“Saturday was a super-strong solar day with near continuous flaring and radio sweeps,” says Ashcraft. “The sound file (above) corresponds to an M3 flare at 1918 UTC. It was the strongest radio sweep of the observing day.”

“Try listening to the radio bursts in stereo,” he advises. “I was recording on two separate radios at 21.1 MHz and 21.9 MHz, and I put each one into its own channel of the audio file. This gives a spatial dimension as the bursts sweep down in frequency.”

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Sunspot Report

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GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: A pair of closely-spaced CMEs propelled by explosions of sunspot AR1302 on Sept. 24th are heading not-quite directly toward Earth. A significant glancing blow to our planet’s magnetic field is possible on Sept. 26th around 14:00 UT (+/- 7 hours). NOAA forecasters estimate a ~25% chance of geomagnetic storms when the clouds arrive. [CME forecast track] Aurora alerts:text, voice.

STRONG SOLAR ACTIVITY: Having already unleashed two X-flares since Sept. 22nd, sunspot AR1302 appears ready for more. The active region has a complex “beta-gamma-delta” magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M- and X-classeruptions. Flares from AR1302 will become increasingly geoeffective as the sunspot turns toward Earth in the days ahead.

Marko Posavec of Koprivnica, Croatia, photographed the behemoth sunspot between flares on Sept. 24th:


Photo details: Olympus E-510, Sigma 50-500mm lens (at 500mm), 1/640 sec. exposure, f/18, ISO 100

“Sunspot complex 1302 is incredibly easy to spot at sunrise or sunset,” says Posavec. “Be careful, though. Even the low-hanging sun is bright enough to damage your eyes if you look at it through optics of any kind.”

X-Flare Incoming

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SATURDAY X-FLARE: Behemoth sunspot 1302 unleashed another strong flare on Saturday morning–an X1.9-category blast at 0940 UT. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

The movie also shows a shadowy shock wave racing away from the blast site. This is a sign that the blast produced a coronal mass ejection (CME). Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the CME could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on Sept. 26 at 14:10 UT (+/- 7 hours);

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CME & Aurora Watch

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from: spaceweather.com

MAJOR X-FLARE + CME: Yesterday, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a long-duration X1.4-class solar flare coming from sunspot 1302 on the sun’s eastern limb. The blast, which peaked at 1100 UT on Sept. 22nd, produced a significant coronal mass ejection (CME). Using data from the SOHO-STEREO fleet of spacecraft, analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have modeled the trajectory of the CME and concluded that the body of the cloud will not hit Earth. A minor glancing encounter with the outskirts of the CME is, however, possible on Sept. 25th

UARS Satellite Falling Faster Than Expected

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NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity

UARS to crash-land Friday, but no one yet knows where.

Fireball picture: Hayabusa reenters the atmosphere.

The sample capsule from Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft became a fireball as it fell to Earth last June.

Photograph by Takashi Ozaki, Yomiuri Simbun/AP

Traci Watson

for National Geographic News

Published September 21, 2011

It may be doomed, but the NASA satellite that’s about to crash-land on Earthisn’t going out quietly. 

To scientists’ surprise, the six-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, has picked up speed and is now expected to plummet through the atmosphere Friday.

Only two weeks ago government scientists projected that the satellite could return to Earth as late as the first days of October.

“The spacecraft is coming in a little faster than we’d originally anticipated,” said NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney. As a result, “it’s coming in sooner rather than on the later side.”

The satellite’s speed is due to a recent spike in the amount of ultraviolet rays being emitted by the sun, Matney said.

The radiation increase caused Earth’s atmosphere to expand, which increased drag on the satellite, causing it to fall faster.

A Thousand Pounds to Survive Reentry?

Experts predict that most of the UARS spacecraft will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

But more than 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of debris will probably survive the fiery plunge and slam down to Earth.

The biggest piece to reach the surface intact will most likely be a 300-pound (150-kilogram) piece of the spacecraft’s frame.

However, it’s still too early to know where the satellite’s components will land, Matney said.

The only tip scientists can give for now about the location of the “debris footprint” is that it will be somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude—an area encompassing most of Earth’s populated land.

Odds of Debris Hitting You: 1 in 3,200

UARS, which collected data on Earth’s atmosphere from 1991 to 2005, was designed well before scientists started to worry about space debris.

to read more, go to:    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110921-nasa-satellite-uars-space-debris-crash-land-earth-nation/

Four New CME’s

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FOUR CMEs: On Sept. 19th, the STEREO-SOHO fleet of spacecraft surrounding the sun detected six coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Two of the clouds rapidly dissipated. The remaining four, however, are still intact and billowing through the inner solar system. Click to view a movie of their forecasted paths:

According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, who prepared the movie, one CME should hit Mercury on Sept. 20th at 05:40 UT while another delivers a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on Sept. 22th at 23:00 UT. All impact times have an uncertainty of plus or minus 7 hrs.

from sapceweather.com

Flare Affecting Radio Transmissions

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LIMB FLARES: The northwestern limb of the sun is crackling with M-class solar flares. The source appears to be departing sunspot complex 1280-1286. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) emerging from the blast site are not Earth-directed. Nevertheless, these flares are having a minor effect on Earth as their radiation ionizes our planet’s upper atmosphere. For an example, see “Radio-Altering Flare” below 

RADIO-ALTERING FLARE: On Sunday morning at 1145 UT, an active region on the sun’s western limb unleashed a strong M3-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation:

Although the blast site was not directly facing Earth, radiation from the explosion nevertheless ionized Earth’s upper atmosphere. This altered the propagation of radio signals around Europe, where it was high-noon at the time of the flare. “I detected a sharp change in signal levels from two radio stations on the VLF band,” reports Rob Stammes of Lofoten, Norway. More radio anmolaies were detected by Dave Gradwell in Ireland (data) and a team led by Valter Giuliani in Italy (data). This shows that flares can affect our planet even when the underlying explosions are not “Earth-directed.”

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An Eye on the Sun

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Eye-shaped sunspot group facing planet, Earth directed flares possible

Published on September 5, 2011 9:15 am PT
– By Jim Duran – Writer
– Article Editor and Approved – Ron Jackson


Click for larger image

(TheWeatherSpace.com) — The sun has a sunspot group that is facing our planet today and any large flares would be directed at us.

The field has a beta field which could harbor M-Class solar flares. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center is monitoring for changes in the field.

The interesting thing about this one is the shape of it. We know the Sun does not have eyes, but took a look at the image caught today. The sunspot group has an eyelid and eyeball shape. Pretty interesting huh!

fr/http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-09_05_2011_sunspot.html

Giant Solar Magnetic Wave

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GIANT SINE WAVE: Imagine a sine wave 400,000 km long. Today, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring just such a structure. It’s an enormous filament of magnetism slithering over the sun’s northeastern limb:

One of the wave troughs appears to be passing through the core of sunspot1283. If so, an eruption of the sunspot could have an interesting ripple effect on the greater filament, perhaps even causing it to collapse.

fr/http://spaceweather.com/

Double Coronal Hole

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DOUBLE CORONAL HOLE: A double-barreled hole has opened up in the sun’s atmosphere and it is spewing a split-stream of solar wind toward Earth. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this composite UV image of the double coronal hole on August 20th:

Sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the solar wind arrives on August 22-24. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% to 50% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic activity

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