GRAND FILAMENT: A filament of magnetism more than 700,000 km long is curling around the sun’s northeastern limb. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the vast structure during the early hours of Nov. 12th:
The filament is weighted down by solar plasma. If it erupts–as such filaments are prone to do–it could fall to the stellar surface below, setting off an explosion called aHyder flare. Or it might fly upward, hurling fragments of itself into space. Amateur astronomers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor the region for developments.
SOLAR ACTIVITY: Sunspot AR1339 is crackling with M-class solar flares, unleashing at least five of them in the past 24 hours. The blasts have been coming with such thick frequency that photographer Randy Shivak of Elyria, Ohio, was able to catch one in action on Nov. 5th:
“Looking like iron filings around a bar magnet, sunspot group 1339 showed itself in the throes of a solar flare,” says Shivak.
Even bigger eruptions are possible before the weekend is over. AR1339 has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class flares. The sunspot is turning toward Earth, so the odds of a geoeffective flare are increasing.
CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters have upgraded the chance of X-class solar flares today to 20%. The source would be AR1339, one of the biggest sunspots in many years. The active region rotated over the sun’s eastern limb two days ago and now it is turning toward Earth.
The sunspot has already unleashed one X-flare on Nov. 3rd around 2027 UT. A movie from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the extreme ultraviolet flash:
The flare created waves of ionization in Earth’s upper atmosphere, altering the normal propagation of radio waves over Europe and the Americas. In Ireland, the flare’s effect was felt even after dark.
A cloud of plasma or “CME” raced away from the blast site at 1100 km/s. The CME is not heading for Earth. It is, however, heading for Mercury and Venus. Click on the arrow to view a movie of the CME’s forecast track:
Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the CME will hit Mercury on Nov. 4th around 16:14 UT. NASA’s MESSENGER probe in orbit around Mercury will be monitoring the effects of the impact. If the CME overwhelms Mercury’s relatively weak magnetic field, it could scour material off the planet’s surface creating a temporary atmosphere and adding material to Mercury’s comet-like tail. The CME should hit Venus on Nov. 5th; the gossamer cloud will probably break harmlessly against the top of planet’s ultra-dense atmosphere.
SOLAR ACTIVITY IN THE OFFING: A big sunspot is emerging over the sun’s NE limb. Yesterday it unleashed an M1-class solar flare (SDO movie) and hurled a coronal mass ejection into space. Geoeffective solar activity could increase in the days ahead as the sun’s rotation turns the sunspot toward Earth.
ACTIVE SUNSPOT: New sunspot AR1295 is emerging over the sun’s northeastern limb and crackling with solar flares. The strongest so far, a C9.9-category blast, did something remarkable. Click on the arrow to watch an extreme ultraviolet movie from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory:
In the movie, the underlying explosion (marked by the flash of extreme UV radiation) hurls material upward. The ejecta crashes into a loop of magnetism above the sunspot, stretching the loop until the material breaks free. Coronagraph images from the STEREO-A spacecraft confirm that a cloud of plasma (a CME) left the scene.
This sunspot will not turn toward Earth for several days. Until then, CMEs leaving AR1295 should continue to miss our planet.
Major power outage hits from San Diego to New Mexico on Thursday
Published on September 8, 2011 5:10 pm PT
– By Dave Tole – Writer
– Article Editor and Approved – Warren Miller
No larger image
(TheWeatherSpace.com) — Power is out from San Diego into Arizona, and New Mexico in spots, blamed on hot conditions in the Southern California desert.
San Diego Gas and Electric spoke this evening when millions of people were affected with a power outage before 4 p.m. local time.
he spokesperson states that “power will be restored soon as other plants come online” but does not have an approximate time for it.
The internet is abuzz with possible reasons. An X-Class solar flare erupted from the Sun a couple days back which could result in a solar storm today or tomorrow.
Then you have the more realistic reason being the hot temperatures over 115 degrees overloaded the grid in the desert, causing the blackout.
“Temperatures are very hot out there in the Southern California desert,” said TWS Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin. “Anytime you have something of that magnitude you will get power failures. It is a plausible option but not for sure.”
Others tell TheWeatherSpace.com it was traced to someone removing a piece of monitoring equipment at a power substation in Southwestern Arizona.
X-FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have detected an X2-class solar flare from sunspot 1283. The explosion, which occured at 2220 UT on Sept. 6th, appears to have hurled a CME toward Earth. This is the second time today that sunspot 1283 has propelled a plasma cloud in our general direction (see also “Earth-directed Flare,” below). Stay tuned for estimates of their arrival times.
EARTH-DIRECTED FLARE: This morning at 0150 UT, sunspot 1283 produced an M5.3-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation:
Because of the sunspot’s central location on the solar disk, the eruption was Earth-directed–but is a CME heading our way? Around the time of the explosion, a number of plasma clouds were already billowing away from the sun, adding an element of confusion to the analysis. Tentatively, we expect Earth’s magnetic field to receive a glancing blow from a CME on Sept. 8th or 9th.
Earth-directed X2-class solar flare blasts CME on Tuesday, solar storm by end week
Published on September 6, 2011 4:40 pm PT
– By Jim Duran – Writer
– Article Editor and Approved – Warren Miller
No larger image
(TheWeatherSpace.com) — After unleashing an M-class flare within the last 24 hours, Sunspot 1283 exploded violently.
An X-class solar flare has erupted from the Sun. This flare is Earth-directed and should arrive within the following 48 to 72 hours from now, making it Thursday or Friday of this week.
The flare’s exact magnitude was X2.1. Scientists measure the magnitude of flares from A, B, C, M, and X. X flares are rare, and can cause radio and electrical grid blackouts.
SOLAR FLARE: This morning at 1145 UT, an active region on the sun’s western limb unleashed an M3-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the flash of extreme UV 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.
In addition to the UV flash, the explosion also hurled a CME into space: SOHO movie. The cloud is not heading for Earth, so no auroras will result from this particular event. That’s not to say, however, that no auroras are in the offing.
NASA to Discuss Solar Storm Tracking Efforts Thursday
SPACE.com Staff
This still from a video taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the Aug. 8, 2011 solar flare as it appeared in the ultraviolet range of the light spectrum. The flare registered as an X6.9 class sun storm, the largest of the Solar Cycle 24.
CREDIT: NASA/SDO/GSFC
NASA will hold a press conference Thursday (Aug. 18) to discuss “new details about the structure of solar storms and the impact they have on Earth,” space agency officials said in a statement.
The briefing this week will review new observations from several NASA spacecraft, including the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (Stereo), that currently keep a close eye on the sun, agency officials said in the statement released today (Aug. 16)
