Large solar eruption: possible electrical effects July 16-17

Space Weather.com ^ | 07/16/2002

[isthisnickcool]

Looks like a closup of a Lasik surgery...

[backhoe]

There are links to take you to real-time solar observations here:

The Sun has a Thousand Faces--- Thread 3

[NerdDad]

Ping. Son, get the perspective right. Compare the size of the flare to the size of the sun (blue dot).

[Billthedrill]

Wait a minute, something's wrong here. How can there be a solar flare when it's nighttime and the sun is turned off? Huh? Yeah, I thought you'd find that hard to explain...

[Bogey78O]

Nice birthday present.

[cogitator]

It takes sunlight 8 minutes to get from the Sun to the Earth. Does this come through the US Postal Service?

You may know this and asked the question in jest, but the CME is not light, it's charged particles (plasma). It has to travel 93 million miles to get here. Now 93 million miles in a day or so may not be lightspeed, but at that speed I'd get from Maryland to the West Coast (scribble scribble) in about 2.5 seconds.

[Dog Gone]

Sure, but why would you want to? ;-)

[Sundog]

I did.

For you I had them leave a little white circle to mark what you affectionately call your 'Sun'.

Cheers.

[RightWhale]

What did the President know

The president knows the sun is that hot, bright thing in the sky. I'd like to know what those three bright points of light are, the ones that move in the movie. There are other less-bright points as well, probably stars. Especially what are the two bright points with a horizontal line through each? And what is the one above the sun?

[Mygirlsmom]

Happy Birthday! It's "Mygirlsmom's" Mom's birthday too!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

The last time this happened the cell phone system in the US WAS totally disrupted.

[Bogey78O]

Sorry. Not till tomorrow. I read it as happening today and tomorrow. Happy Birthday to your Mom nonetheless.

[Salman]

What did the President know and when did he know it?

< democrat=liberal,whacko >
We're all going to die and it's the shrub's fault!
< /democrat >

[cogitator]

Especially what are the two bright points with a horizontal line through each? And what is the one above the sun?

If you go to the Web site (link in the header), I think that it indicates the points with the lines through them are planets. The bright one above the Sun should be a star.

[cogitator]

I had to check. From the Web site:

"The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, however, can. SOHO's coronagraph blocks the Sun's blinding glare with an opaque disk, revealing stars, planets and the Sun's faint corona. SOHO captured the above coronagraph image on July 15th. Later this week Mars will join Mercury and Jupiter in the field of view. (Note: the horizontal lines are digital imaging artifacts, not planetary rings.)"

Jupiter is to the left of the Sun, Mercury to the right.

[My Favorite Headache]

LMFAO

[LurkedLongEnough]

I'm ready.

[commish]

Sure, but why would you want to? ;-)

Seems to me that going from Maryland to the West Coast in 2.5 seconds should create one hell of a shock wave and sonic boom when you slow down .. if he times it just right he could possibly level SF and LA (And all the attendant Liberals) all at the same time.
I admit there would be a lot of collateral damage (Some Redwoods, condors and a spotted owl or two) and there could be some "friendly Fire" casualtis -- but hey it's the price of doing business ;-)

[Dog Gone]

Well, there you have it. There is a valid reason, after all.

[snooker]

Yep it is warm. Mr. Sun has been a blowing and going for the last twelve months.

The green weanies are afraid of blowing it big time if they were to shout the global warming sky is falling right now.