X Flare

[+yorelken]

Anyone have the goods on this X Flare thing that's supposed to disrupt communications in the next day or so?

[Pup Patrol]

http://www.spaceweather.com/

 

X-FLARE! Big sunspot AR1520 unleashed an X1.4-class solar flare on July 12th. Because the sunspot is directly facing Earth, everything about the blast was geoeffective. For one thing, it hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) directly toward our planet. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will hit Earth on July 14th around 10:20 UT (+/- 7 hours) and could spark strong geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend.

 

The UV pulse partially ionized Earth's upper atmosphere, disturbing the normal propagation of radio signals around the planet. Monitoring stations in Norway, Ireland and Italy recorded the sudden ionospheric disturbance.

 

Finally, solar protons accelerated by the blast are swarming around Earth. The radiation storm, in progress, ranks "S1" on NOAA space weather scales, which means it poses no serious threat to satellites or astronauts. This could change if the storm continues to intensify. Stay tuned.

 

NOAA Space Weather Scales:

 

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/index.html#GeomagneticStorms

 

 

B.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Pup Patrol

[knowschad]

Today is Friday, the 13th. Maybe this one really will be The Big One.

[knowschad]

Anyone have the goods on this X Flare thing that's supposed to disrupt communications in the next day or so?

 

 

LOS ANGELES - The space weather forecast for Earth looks a bit stormy this weekend, but scientists said not to worry.

 

A solar storm was due to arrive Saturday morning and last through Sunday, slamming into Earth's magnetic field. Scientists said it will be a minor event and they have notified power grid operators, airlines and other potentially affected parties.

 

"This isn't the mother of all anything," said forecaster Joe Kunches at the government's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo. "We don't see any ill effects to any systems."

 

The storm began Thursday when the sun unleashed a massive flare that hurled a cloud of highly charged particles racing toward Earth at 3 million mph. It was the sixth time this year that such a powerful solar outburst has occurred; none of the previous storms caused major problems.

 

In severe cases, solar storms can cause power blackouts, damage satellites and disrupt GPS signals and high-frequency radio communications. Airlines are sometimes forced to reroute flights to avoid the extra radiation around the north and south poles brought on by solar storms.

 

In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose electricity.

 

Juha-Pekka Luntama, a space weather expert at the European Space Agency, said utility and navigation operators "will certainly see something but they will probably find ways to deal with any problems" from the incoming storm.

 

The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle of solar activity, which is supposed to reach peak storminess next year.

 

There's a bright side to stormy space weather: It tends to spawn colorful northern lights as the charged particles bombard Earth's outer magnetic field. Shimmering auroras may be visible at the United States-Canada border and northern Europe this weekend, Kunches said.

 

 

 

(source)

[+Sol seaker]

Oops. I posted this in off-topic too.

There's a bigger article in off-topic (if you're a premium member you can see it) along with a video.

 

It may disrupt GPS.

 

The last time they said a solar storm might disrupt GPS I tried to find a cache in Seattle. No trees and only one short building nearby. Nothing around to block the signals, but there was no way I was going to find that cache that day. My signal kept bouncing around at about 75 foot intervals. It would be here, then it would be there, and then over that way. I finally gave up and went home. There were infinite possibilities within that radius.

 

Then the next day they said the flare had had no effect at all.

 

link to off topic and article

Edited July 14, 2012 by Sol seaker