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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Nasa scientists braced for 'solar tsunami' to hit earth
2010-08-03
The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion of the sun, scientists have warned.
The sun exploded? Why wasn't I told?
The sun exploded! GODDAMN!!!
Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.
We're all gonna die!
...or have great tans.
It is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights.
Y'mean it's just twinkly lights?
That's it? The sun explodes, and that's it?
Scientists have warned that a really big solar eruption could destroy satellites and wreck power and communications grids around the globe if it happened today.
But it hasn't happened yet...
NASA recently warned that Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation "space storm".
But we wouldn't notice because we'll be wiped out...
"Once in a generation" really means every other year, just like floods, right?
Well, as long as it's just Britain, what the hell do I care?
The Daily Telegraph disclosed in June that senior space agency scientists believed the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes "from a deep slumber" sometime around 2013. It remains unclear, however, how much damage this latest eruption will cause the world's communication tools.
What's your data telling you Chuck?
Time to put in for another grant.
Posted by:lotp

#27  IIRC the US Govt many years ago once considered formally changing the definition of "-US" in "SIRIUS" from "ULTRA-STRONG" to "UNITED STATES".
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-08-04 00:05  

#26   Although, those block IIA GPS satellites are all rather long in the tooth ....

The Block IIA finished launch in 1997 and at least six of the 19 have been removed from service.

The 20 Block IIR / Block IIR-M finished launch last year. I was involved with the Block IIR rubidium oscillators.

Now we start on the Block IIF launches; first one was last May.
Posted by: KBK   2010-08-03 23:41  

#25  What time on Tuesday? sheesh.
Posted by: Goober Goobelopolous   2010-08-03 21:26  

#24  Lucas "Prince of Darkness" also the inventor of the intermittant wiper.....and dash lights....and headlights...
Posted by: Warthog   2010-08-03 17:53  

#23  Guys... GUYS!...

C3 is the bottom of the scale. Unlax, willya?
Posted by: mojo   2010-08-03 17:05  

#22  I blame Bush.
Posted by: Formerly Dan   2010-08-03 11:19  

#21  Cant wait , been raining for 2 days here
Posted by: Black Charlie   2010-08-03 10:01  

#20  Between this and imminent global warming were doomed as a species! Unless, of course, the US Congress enacts legislation that will save the world from impending doom. Maybe they could tax the sun, and if that doesn't work they could ask the UN to impose sanctions on the sun.
Posted by: Keenster   2010-08-03 09:54  

#19  Satellites can be put in safe mode to protect them. Although, those block IIA GPS satellites are all rather long in the tooth ....

They are. They are also central to current operations, including Predators and JDAMS ... and their replacements are years away.
Posted by: lotp   2010-08-03 09:11  

#18  this will set back the Islamic Space Program™ by several centuries days. Oh, the loss of self esteem! Oh, the seething!
Posted by: Frank G   2010-08-03 08:27  

#17  Figures. Sun's gonna blow up this morning and we have rain forecast for the next two days. Dang but I miss everything ...
Posted by: Steve White   2010-08-03 07:41  

#16  I didn't see it. Musta happened at night.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2010-08-03 07:27  

#15  What has people watching this one is that the flare line is lined up with Earth right now.

Satellites can be put in safe mode to protect them. Although, those block IIA GPS satellites are all rather long in the tooth ....
Posted by: Mike Ramsey   2010-08-03 07:16  

#14  The issue is whether comms and other satellites will be affected.

It's true that there are solar flares regularly, although this one is fairly large for our sun. (The scale is used for all stars, including many that are much more massive than Sol.) What has people watching this one is that the flare line is lined up with Earth right now.
Posted by: lotp   2010-08-03 06:57  

#13  The sun exploded?

The sun is powered by fusion; it is exploding all the time. Flares and coronal mass ejections are the result of the sun's magnetic fields reconnecting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_reconnection )
Posted by: Mike Ramsey   2010-08-03 05:37  

#12  I was wrong in the magnitudes. A C2 is twice as strong as C1, a C3 would be three times as C1.

Posted by: crosspatch   2010-08-03 03:34  

#11  Ok, this is a class C3 flare. Classes go A, B, C, M, and X. A C class is in the middle. The classes also have a broad range. A C2 is twice as strong as a C1. A C3 is twice as strong as a C2. So this flare is in the lower end of the C class. Flares of that size do not generally cause any damage. They do give some pretty northern lights. It is NOT a "solar tsunami". It is more like a medium sized solar breaker.

An X class flare would be a tsunami.

http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/flareclasses.html
Posted by: crosspatch   2010-08-03 03:33  

#10  Looks like it's pushed to Friday, if they last.

Posted by: Skidmark   2010-08-03 03:25  

#9  It is a fairly small flare from a fairly small sunspot, just the first one we have had for a while. It also looks more dramatic that what people are used to seeing because of new spacecraft that are observing the Sun.
Posted by: crosspatch   2010-08-03 03:23  

#8  NASA's take on the flare.
href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=16939864">9864

Wonder what that's going to do to the two guys in EVA suits repairing the ammonia pump on the space station.
Posted by: Skidmark   2010-08-03 03:19  

#7  Lucas Electronics (UK): a.k.a. "the Prince of Darkness"
Posted by: Scooter McGruder   2010-08-03 03:14  

#6  And all this time I thought that Lucas restricted their products to cars...... silly me.

No, they have a wide variety of products. The majority of their product lines, however, are designed to help us with darkness.
Posted by: gorb   2010-08-03 02:01  

#5  We're all gonna die, women, children and minorities will be hit hardest.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2010-08-03 01:20  

#4  "Britain could face widespread power blackouts..."
And all this time I thought that Lucas restricted their products to cars...... silly me.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2010-08-03 01:10  

#3  Its the late 1960's SIRIUS Event for me + VIETNAM WAR-era Guam.

On a separate note, AFAIK there was only one visually-observable ball of light oer GUAM's Hagatna Bay after Midnite this AM. May or may not had missed others becuz I went to sleep. NO KNOWN OR REPORTED EARTHQUAKES IN WESTPAC OR EAST ASIA REGIONS ASOF THIS POST.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-08-03 00:40  

#2  Holy crap! It works!
Posted by: Halliburton: Earthquake/Solar Tsunami Division   2010-08-03 00:32  

#1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859
Posted by: Pstanley   2010-08-03 00:23  

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