Posted on 11/04/2011 5:43:53 PM PDT by decimon
WASHINGTON (AP) After years of quiet, the sun is coming alive with solar storms in a big way.
The sun shot off a flare Thursday afternoon from a region that scientists are calling a "benevolent monster."
Scientists at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center say that area is the most active part of the sun since 2005. It has dozens of sunspots, including one that is the size of 17 Earths. Sunspots are kinks or knots in the sun's magnetic field.
"It's beautiful," said forecaster Jess Whittington. "It's still growing. The size is what blows me away."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Sol survivor ping.
Wake me when it becomes a malevolent monster.
Here comes the sun ... dada da dum... here comes the sun and I said....it’s alright.....dadadadadadadadadaaaaa....
Yeah I was thinking the same thing.
What did we do to cause this? Exhaust from the ISS? Algore must be having a heart attack.
This solar activity might well warm the earth.
I wonder how long it will take Algore and his disciples to enlist another mob of street urchins, hollywood actors, liberal media and grant-bribed academics to lay the blame on traditional light bulbs, fossil fuels, internal combustion engines, and fatty foods.
“It’s beautiful,” said forecaster Jess Whittington
the German guy said that in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark LOL
Yup!
I wouldn't at all mind some warm winters.
LOL!
Long live sun spots!
Roger, you are 5x9 into Las Vegas this morning......
Being from New York, I suppose you wouldn't, but I'm in Texas, and we can do with a lot LESS warming, thank you very much! LOL
Yes, Sunspots.
This is very important for weather patterns. It has been know for 100 that weather is more variable during sunspot minimums and sunspot maximums. There were some much older observations about sunspot pattern and wheat production.
We are just moving out of the longest, quietest and deepest sunspot minimum in my lifetime. Texas has had the worst drought in recorded history of weather here. No one living has seen so low annual rainfall (October 2010 to October 2011 rainfall was 2.5-2.9 inches in this county, average rainfall is 25 inches) nor so hot temperatures.
We have recently seen that change (as the sunspots are returning), one evening we had 3.9 inches of rain and about 2 weeks later we had .9 inches.
The Sun was pretty active in the late 1970s, when all the pre-moon bats
were worried about "nuclear Winter", led by the dishonest Carl Sagan.
Recorded rainfall data for Texas goes back to 1895. And that is State Data. Texas is a very big state. And rainfall varies greatly.
My family arrived in Haskell County in 1889. There was a very bad drought in 1895 that cause some of the family to leave for 3 years and go back to near Austin. This year may have actually been worse than the 1895 drought. But remember weather is very local.
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