Monster Sunspot Threatens to Unleash Powerful Solar Flares

Space.com via Yahoo ^ | 5/8/12 | Mike Wall

[Kartographer]

An enormous sunspot group has taken shape on the surface of the sun, hinting that our star may soon start spouting off some powerful storms.

The huge sunspot complex, known as AR 1476, rotated into Earth's view over the weekend. It measures more than 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) across, researchers said. Scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory mission, a space-based telescope watching the sun, dubbed the solar structure a "monster sunspot" in a Twitter announcement.

[Kartographer]

"Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's all right"

[piroque]

We all gonna die or will we loose satellite signals ?

Got any ides on when it gonna hit

[knarf]

I dunno ... my GPS has been a little flakey for a few months now, and I thought it was satalite manipulation or whatever.

I think .. well .... we're all gonna' die.

Yup .. that's it ... we're all gonna' die.

[a fool in paradise]

Maybe it’s a tumor.

[JRios1968]

[Gaffer]

In my service career, I was a telecommunications controller. In the early 70s I was working long-haul HF (5K miles plus), VHF communications with a smattering of UHF and EHF stuff.

We had a SIDs one day (Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance) which sponged out hop/skip communications using the ionosphere...totally dead!....the higher frequencies came back first but it hit everything from HF up to UHF. Lasted about 30 minutes. We were told the sunspot cycle came every 11 years....

From the gist of things lately, the bombarding of the ionosphere this time might be much more dramatic...hard to tell what’s gonna happen. While the higher frequencies might not be affected so much, attenuation may be increased. Systems like GPS and/or DBS who don’t have all that much signal margin might marginalize or be affected moreso.....

In any case, we shall see what we shall see.

[Stevenc131]

The Global Warmists are hard at work producing a report that will blame Republicans driving SUVs for the sunspot.

[andy58-in-nh]

Ref: #1476 at left of photo: one big mother sunspot group.

[JRandomFreeper]

Is this going to help the DX on HF and 6 meters?

CQ CQ CQ DX.

/johnny

[JRios1968]

Maybe it’s a tumor.

It's nawda toomah!

[piroque]

Now that I think about it , With obama leading the charge the government's gonna save us , / sarcasm tag

[Larry Lucido]

That's okay. I got a box of road flares I can release right back! :-)

[lonevoice]

Yikes! See pic in post #8

[Roccus]

There’s a little black spot on the sun today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3zo5Hbof8k

[Drill Thrawl]

[RoadGumby]

Iss nota tumuh!

[bgill]

See, the sky really is falling!

[BushCountry]

Dinosaur gas expulsion is the root cause of this. The gases took a long time to reach the sun.

[Errant]

My solar cells always seem to show a significant increase in electricity produced during these events.

[GraceG]

Jovian SUVs driven by Space lizard Republicans are responsible for all the Sun’s issues...