The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the Sun releasing a massive solar flare on Nov. 3, 2011. The image - which was selected as "Picture of the Week" on Space Oddities - concerns scientists because it shows astronomers how serious flares can be. This one happened to be an X-class, is the most powerful type of flare. Credit: NASA/SDO
There’s a storm brewing on the sun’s surface and it could unleash its magnetic fury on Earth within the next five days.
That ominous warning comes from solar scientists at the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center who are tracking a huge group of sunspots that are slowly rotating to face our planet. As imaged by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in Friday, this is the largest group of sunspots seen on the sun since 2005. The largest sunspot is 17-times the width of the Earth.
Active region 1339 has been crackling with flare activity — for now blasting the majority of its energy away from us — but on Thursday, it showed solar astronomers what it’s capable of; erupting with the most powerful type of flare.
I wonder what these storms will bring. More auroras in unusual places? How about satellite interruption, or even worse, loss of power? Maybe nothing. Only time will tell.
If you happen to see auroras this week, take pictures and send one to lillian.m.ortiz@gmail.com. We’ll post your pictures here on Space Oddities.
There have been a lot of ‘rare’ events happening lately. And if you ask me, there have been way too many for a person to rest easy.
Last week, the northeast was blasted by an ‘unusual’ snowstorm that left millions without power.
“Two times in the history of climate, and that goes back to the 1880s, where we’ve had accumulating snow in October, so that’s kind of remarkable … It is unusual. In fact you could even call it rare,” said Tim Morrin to The Montclair Times.
Snow piled on trees, which had yet dropped its leaves. The branches, heavy from the wet, snowy foliage, crashed into streets, snagged power lines and damaged property. Even now, seven days later, some are still living without power.
Can we all say “climate change?”
A week before the freak snowstorm, we faced another intense storm – this time, of the solar variety. A large solar storm collided with Earth two weeks ago, causing brilliant auroras to be visible in more than half of the United States, according to this Popular Science article.
Image Credit: NASA
Here’s why this is a bit scary. Auroras – typically found in the southern and northern hemispheres – were seen in unlikely states like New Mexico, Tennessee, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
“Sky gazers reported seeing rare deep red auroras that only occur during serious geomagnetic storms and are poorly understood,” according to the Popular Science article.
So auroras were seen in unlikely places because a “serious” solar storm was impacting Earth. Are we in for more solar storms? You betcha.
The sun is approaching a cycle of high activity called “solar maximum.” During these times, the Sun suddenly – and quite violently – releases gas, radiation, and magnetic fields called CMEs, or coronal mass ejections. A large CME has so much energy that it could power the United States for a million years, according to NASA.
When the Sun’s radiation interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, auroras occur. But beautiful colors of light aren’t the only effects of a CME. As mentioned in this Space Oddities post, a large enough CME can disrupt our satellites and cause severe power outages in towns across the nation.
This isn’t a conspiracy theory. NASA has warned that a solar storm could cause mass destruction of our power grids. It’s just a matter of time before an extremely powerful CME is released in our direction.
Take a look at this one. It’s massive enough that, according to NASA, “it can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.”
Luckily, this storm is not directed at us. But remember, more CMEs and solar flares are coming our way. During solar maximum (expected in 2013), the Sun releases about three CMEs a day.
Besides auroras, disruption or destruction of satellites, and power outages, can CMEs cause a natural disaster here on Earth? Some believe that there’s a strong correlation between the massive radiation blasts and earthquakes on our rocky planet.
This writer believes a CME could be responsible for the massive earthquake that hit Japan in March. This person agrees. And this person writes about instances where an earthquake followed a CME. It is hard to ignore that there could be a correlation between the two. Admittedly, there have been a lot of earthquakes this year. But not enough to absolutely say that a large CME will cause an earthquake here on Earth.
But wait, wasn’t there a ‘rare’ earthquake in the Northeast this past August? Oh yes. That Aug. 23 quake began in Virginia and went all the way up to Canada. I felt it in my office in Montclair, N.J. After some research, I found that there was a solar wind/aurora alert during that time frame. But no CME. However, it still doesn’t make that earthquake any less odd. It was the strongest in Virginia in 114 years and since then, there have been more than 600 aftershocks in that state, according to this article.
So what does it all mean?
We’ve experienced stronger, unusually-timed storms (remember Hurricane Irene in August?), more powerful and oddly-located earthquakes, and intense solar storms that keep getting stronger with every blast.
I can’t help but ask, “Is it the beginning of the end?” Or am I watching way too much news?
An X1.8 flare from Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, captured here with by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/SDO/LMSAL/GOES
We’re headed for a bit of a storm this weekend. The sun has been pretty active the past couple of days and one region in particular has been releasing Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), violent and sudden releases of gas and magnetic fields.
Take a look at this video.
It shows past solar flare and CME eruptions on the sun’s surface:
That energy storm is expected to reach Earth tomorrow, Sept. 11, and/or Monday, Sept. 12, scientists say.
NASA computer models suggest that the latest CME may give a glancing blow to Earth on the morning of September 11, and might create some aurora.
So “glancing blow” equals auroras. Let’s hope it’s just auroras. NASA says that the most recent flare – the fourth in the past week – was considered “moderate.” Additional information is not available.
Pretty sure NASA is utilizing its ability to predict where these solar storms are headed. Read more about that in an earlier Space Oddities post.
However, if a fairly large CME was headed toward Earth, would NASA let us know the full extent of the situation? A large CME could affect our satellites and power grids. Some believe a massive one could send us back into the Stone Age. Scary.
Browsing some solar flare video, I stumbled upon a Youtube video that suggests a correlation between CMEs and earthquakes on Earth. I ignored it, but then I realized that there had been a 6.7-magnitude earthquake yesterday in Vancover Island, Canada. It is a northern region.
This weekend should be the perfect time to test out that CME theory. We’ll see what happens.
In 2013, the sun’s solar activity will reach a peak and it could lead to some disruptions here on Earth. Those disturbances range from auroras, to radiation storms and, in extreme cases, massive blackouts.
But now scientists feel they’ll be a bit more prepared. Yesterday, NASA announced that it can predict how and when solar activity will effect Earth.
Why is this important? Well, here’s some background.
The sun has a fairly regular cycle. About every 11 years, the sun goes through a cycle of low and high activity. During a low phase, or solar minimum, there aren’t that many sun spots visible on the sun’s surface. During a high phase, or solar maximum, there can be hundreds of visible sun spots. Take a look at the graph below. It shows an 11-year cycle beginning in 1996. You can see how how the activity on the sun’s surface intensifies around 2001.
Courtesy of NASA
During times of high activity, the sun suddenly – and quite violently – releases gas and magnetic fields called CMEs, or coronal mass ejections.
CMEs are large clouds of charged particles that are ejected from the sun over the course of several hours and can carry up to ten billion tons of plasma. They expand away from the sun at speeds as high as a million miles an hour. A CME can make the 93-million-mile journey to Earth in just two to four days.
A large CME could power the United States for a million years, according to NASA. While that sounds pretty cool, we can’t really harness that power. Well, not yet. A large CME could disrupt power grids, pipelines, and satellites. With the ability to predict solar weather, we on Earth can be a bit more prepared if a large CME were heading our way.
Want more information about solar flares and CME’s? Check out this video: