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Solar Tsunami
Spaceweather.com ^ | 12/23/09 | Spaceweather

Posted on 12/23/2009 4:05:28 PM PST by winoneforthegipper

Yesterday, Dec. 22nd at approximately 0455 UT, magnetic fields around sunspot 1036 erupted, producing a C7-class solar flare. NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft was almost directly above the sunspot at the time of the blast and recorded this extreme ultraviolet movie:

The shadowy wave racing away from the blast site is a "solar tsunami"--a swell of hot, magnetized plasma about 100,000 km high packing as much energy as a million megatons of TNT. The tsunami petered out before it went more than halfway around the sun, but another manifestation of the blast is still going. The eruption hurled a faint coronal mass ejection (CME) into space and the billion-ton cloud should cross Earth's orbit on or about Dec. 25th. A glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field could spark polar auroras for Christmas.

(Excerpt) Read more at spaceweather.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; hamradio; science; solar; space
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To: ErnBatavia

In two weeks, we will have 22 more minutes of daylight. The return of the Sun picks up speed thereafter.

Meanwhile, the amount of daylight time sort of pokes along for the next week or so.

Personally, I am thrilled to read that the solar cycle has really begun in earnest! I have no desire to spend the last third of my life in Ice Age conditions.


21 posted on 12/23/2009 5:09:42 PM PST by reformedliberal
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To: catarac

Remember 43 is a magnitude. Today it is 26. On the traditional scale, anything less than 15 is not even considered a sunspot. Also, this is less than half the common score at most times in a solar cycle. The excitement is that we have been out of spots for almost twice the normal solar minimum [Spotless Days: 2009 total: 259 days (73%)
Since 2004: 770 days Typical Solar Min: 485 days]. A couple of sunspots does not a warming trend make. It is very enlightening to go to the site and look at the long term history of sunspots in relation to global temperatures. The correlation and lag time is impressive.


22 posted on 12/23/2009 5:09:58 PM PST by Steamburg ( Your wallet speaks the only language most politicians understand.)
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To: Steamburg

Well, I learned a lot there. But you and I know the sting of “0.00” day in and day out and we have definite cycle 24 and we could ascend very rapidly in deed. . The Sun has enormous ,if not total , influence on earth heating.


23 posted on 12/23/2009 5:26:46 PM PST by catarac
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To: winoneforthegipper

Sun fart.


24 posted on 12/23/2009 5:35:59 PM PST by cripplecreek (Seniors, the new shovel ready project under socialized medicine.)
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To: catarac

But, will the sun get the credit or will the Gorniacs perpetuate their lie?


25 posted on 12/23/2009 6:09:27 PM PST by Steamburg ( Your wallet speaks the only language most politicians understand.)
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To: winoneforthegipper

26 posted on 12/23/2009 6:53:09 PM PST by mikrofon (Gnarly, dude...)
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To: Night Hides Not

Like we wuz always told, “if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a day it’ll change”. Due for 25 on Christmas morning.


27 posted on 12/23/2009 7:03:26 PM PST by dusttoyou (libs are all wee wee'd up and no place to go)
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To: steveo
Propagation's been pretty bad on 20 meters the last week, finally got my first contact in France this morning on 14.238.5, great signal report s9+10 with 100 watts and my Mosley tri-bander.

Maybe propagation will finally start picking up (keeping fingers crossed as a build a home-brew 80m dipole...)

28 posted on 12/23/2009 7:07:32 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: winoneforthegipper

Of all the interesting articles I played a part in processing in my 35-year heat treating career, my favorite was a simple little weldment made of plain cold rolled carbon steel for JPL Pasadena, which we stress relieved for them. It’s on one of the Voyager spacecraft, not known which one.


29 posted on 12/23/2009 7:08:43 PM PST by onehipdad ("Tell us who poisoned the monkeys, and we'll give you a cigarette.")
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To: mylife
On the other hand, Austria was booming in on 20 meters

I heard Germany, France and Italy, contacted France which I needed, I have tons of contacts in Italy and Germany. Where'd you hear Austria? I need that country!

30 posted on 12/23/2009 7:09:49 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: steveo
I remember the big flares. Art Bell was having a field day (so to speak). Near equatorial auroras, even.

I had the Ham gear put away during that time but I understand prop was rather unpredictable during those flares.

I haven't seen any unusual prop from this yet. But Santa bought himself some new accessories for Christmas and he's headed for the beach for a few days and will be setting up a milk crate station for all HF bands at the beach house. A new switching supply due to arrive the 24th finally makes the milk crate operation possible - the old Astron RS50M just wouldn't fit!

31 posted on 12/23/2009 7:29:50 PM PST by Clinging Bitterly (MMM MMM MM!)
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To: winoneforthegipper
Now how much of that is influenced by Sol, you got me....lol!

All of it.

32 posted on 12/23/2009 7:39:44 PM PST by Clinging Bitterly (MMM MMM MM!)
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To: usconservative
Could hope. Tomorrow night I'll have some more insulators, centers, and a length of window line, and I'll be building another 80M doublet for traveling. I had to break down and buy some wire today, running out of long pieces of my old stock. DANG, 16/2 aerial LV zip cable 39 cents a foot?

I need to find a source for that copper clad steel telephone wire. Doesn't make sense buying all copper anymore to just use the skin.

33 posted on 12/23/2009 8:04:52 PM PST by Clinging Bitterly (MMM MMM MM!)
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To: usconservative

it was on 20 meter, very clear signal


34 posted on 12/23/2009 8:10:50 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

Hey have you got that ticket yet????????????????????????????


35 posted on 12/23/2009 8:19:36 PM PST by Clinging Bitterly (MMM MMM MM!)
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To: Clinging Bitterly

No time for that now. I have to renew the CHL


36 posted on 12/23/2009 9:59:28 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: catarac
..and the most sun spots in months (43) and are well on are way in solar cycle 24!!

Not according to NOAA. We had a sunspot numbers of 63 back in March 2008, according to them. We are currently on the longest streak of days with spots though, in quite a while. Which tells us cycle 24 is active, but the activity level is low to very low at present. That beats just very low to none, however.

37 posted on 12/23/2009 10:02:15 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: usconservative

I cant find the club now. They have a nice antenna farm over there


38 posted on 12/23/2009 10:06:19 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: justa-hairyape

Some of those spots back in March 2008 however, may have still been cycle 23 spots. So this could be the most cycle 24 spots we have had to date, which is good if you want to stop cooling. We need sunspot numbers above 60 to 75 to begin thinking of net warming. It is nice however to slow the cooling.


39 posted on 12/23/2009 10:07:55 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: mylife
Well I reckon ya can't let that go but dang, what has it been almost a year now?

I hear TX/OK just about every morning on 75M - would be interesting to see if we could make the distance.

40 posted on 12/24/2009 1:21:16 AM PST by Clinging Bitterly (MMM MMM MM!)
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