Waspie_Dwarf Posted September 28, 2012 #1 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The Sun Unleashes a Wide, but Benign, CME › View larger NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this image of a particularly wide coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted from the sun at 10:23 p.m. EDT on Sep. 27, 2012. The leading edge of the CME appears to wrap around over half of the entire sun as it moves out into space. Credit: SOHO/ESA & NASA The sun erupted with a wide, Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) on Sept. 27, 2012 at 10:25 p.m. EDT. CMEs are a phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later, affecting electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models estimate that the CME is traveling at around 700 miles per second and will reach Earth on Sept. 29. CMEs of these speeds are usually benign. In the past, similar CMEs have caused auroras near the poles but have not caused disruption to electrical systems or significantly interfered with GPS or satellite-based communications systems. The CME is associated with a fairly small The Sun Unleashes a Wide, but Benign, CME that was measured as C-class, which is third in strength after X- and M-class flares. The flare peaked at 7 p.m. EDT and came from an active region on the sun labeled AR 1577. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (http://swpc.noaa.gov) is the United States Government official source for space weather forecasts. What is a CME? For answers to this and other space weather questions, please visit the Spaceweather Frequently Asked Questions page. Karen C. Fox NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Source 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashotep Posted September 28, 2012 #2 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Some day one of those things is going to reach out and slap us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted September 28, 2012 Author #3 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Some day one of those things is going to reach out and slap us. They do it all the time and they've be doing it since before recorded history. They can cause power cuts and knock out communications satellites but other than that, apart from better than usual aurora, you wouldn't even notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan'O Posted October 1, 2012 #4 Share Posted October 1, 2012 This is a big one. There has only been 3 others this big this year. Space Weather Message Code: ALTK07 Serial Number: 86 Issue Time: 2012 Oct 01 0305 UTC ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 7 Threshold Reached: 2012 Oct 01 0300 UTC Synoptic Period: 0000-0300 UTC Active Warning: Yes NOAA Scale: G3 - Strong NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude. Induced Currents - Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices. Spacecraft - Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur. Navigation - Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur. Radio - HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent. Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan'O Posted October 1, 2012 #5 Share Posted October 1, 2012 (edited) I wouldn't say this is benign either. This one will cause more then a few transformers to blow. Earth's electromagnetic energy field will become disrupted. Little is known about these effects on people. This article goes into a little more detail on some possible effects: http://www.naturalne...ares_Earth.html Edited October 1, 2012 by Dan'O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan'O Posted October 2, 2012 #6 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Funny but many of these areas do not even know it was caused by a CME. http://www.wowktv.co...incoln-counties http://westbloomfiel...onday-afternoon http://www.northjers...ahwah_and_.html http://www.sequimgaz...0_without_power http://www.daytondai...nglewood/nSRGD/ http://www.greeleytr...stutz-customers Silly humans... This is just a small sampling from the US. Globally this CME cost perhaps millions. No news is good news? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan'O Posted October 2, 2012 #7 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) Not so benign. And this will have lasting effects as well, weakening system's everywhere. Transformers and "faulty wires" will/can go out days or weeks after as well...lol CME fries them ZZZZZZZAAAAPPPPPPP! Edited October 2, 2012 by Dan'O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted October 2, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Funny but many of these areas do not even know it was caused by a CME. http://www.wowktv.co...incoln-counties http://westbloomfiel...onday-afternoon http://www.northjers...ahwah_and_.html http://www.sequimgaz...0_without_power http://www.daytondai...nglewood/nSRGD/ http://www.greeleytr...stutz-customers Silly humans... This is just a small sampling from the US. Globally this CME cost perhaps millions. No news is good news? And exactly what evidence do you have that these power outages WERE caused by the CME? Assuming cause and effect simply because two things occur around the same time is a logical fallacy UNLESS there is evidence to link the events. Some questions I would ask: What is the normal level of power outages in the USA on any given day? Was there a statistically significant increase in that level during the the period in which the CME was interacting with the Earth? Is there any direct evidence linking any of these outages to the CMEs? Without any of these things we do have evidence of human silliness... i.e. simply thinking that 2 things occurring at the same time MUST be linked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan'O Posted October 2, 2012 #9 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) Valid Points. But I am not going to go research and compile statically data for you. Nor will I go into deep explanations on the specific storm levels that were reached. I will say that is was a g3 (strong to extreme event) with a k-index of 7(geomagnetic) and r2 (x-ray) so it was effecting the grid. It is just how it works. I unfortunately needed/wanted to get a separate account (NASA.ALERT at gmai1) to get all the alerts from NASA. Feel free to email me there. Or I could forward the past year or two of events to you... I do watch the space weather and the grid on a daily basis. I believe this .pdf helps spell out a few things in better detail: (not specifically for you waspie) https://netfiles.uiu...stallations.pdf Actual Alert: Space Weather Message Code: ALTK07 Serial Number: 86 Issue Time: 2012 Oct 01 0305 UTC ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 7 Threshold Reached: 2012 Oct 01 0300 UTC Synoptic Period: 0000-0300 UTC Active Warning: Yes NOAA Scale: G3 - Strong NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude. Induced Currents - Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices. Spacecraft - Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur. Navigation - Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur. Radio - HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent. Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon. And exactly what evidence do you have that these power outages WERE caused by the CME? I can tell you that it did effect the grid and did contribute to system failures. There is my evidence... Edited October 2, 2012 by Dan'O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now