Posts Tagged ‘Sun’
Stunning New Solar Atmosphere Images Could Help Solve Longstanding Mysteries
An image of an active, magnetically complicated region of the Sun captured by the new Hi-C instrument. It shows plasma in the outer solar atmosphere at a temperature of 1-2 million degrees Celsius. The inset box at bottom left shows ‘sparkle’ features that are releasing vast amounts of energy into the corona. The box at top right shows a close-up of part of a solar filament where ‘blobs’ of solar plasma flow along thread-like ‘highway’ structures. Credit: NASA MSFC and UCLan.
[ Watch the Video: Stunning New Solar Atmosphere Images Could Help Solve Longstanding Mysteries ]
Thanks to an innovative new camera on board a sounding rocket, an international team of scientists has managed to capture pictures of the sun’s outer atmosphere that are five times sharper than any previous images.
The images, which were scheduled to be presented by University of Central Lancashire professor Robert Walshat the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) National Astronomy Meeting on Monday, were captured using the NASA High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C).
Walsh and colleagues from the UK, US and Russia used a sounding rocket to launch Hi-C from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, RAS officials said. During its brief flight, the Hi-C team was able to secure the high-quality solar corona images, acquiring roughly one picture each five seconds. They were also reportedly able to discover “fast-track ‘highways’ and intriguing ‘sparkles’ that may help answer a long-standing solar mystery.
According to the researchers, those dynamic bright spots switch on and off. They last approximately 25 seconds, are roughly 680 kilometers (423 miles) across and release at least 10,000 times the annual energy consumption of the entire UK population during each event.
As such, these sparkles clearly demonstrate that massive amounts of energy are being added into the corona, and could then be released violently in order to heat the plasma. By discovering them in the Hi-C images, the authors believe they could help explain why the sun’s corona is about 400 times hotter than the solar surface.
Also in the new images, the researchers report the discovery of “small clumps of electrified gas (plasma) at a temperature of about one million degrees Celsius.” These clumps, they note, “are seen racing along highways shaped by the Sun’s magnetic field,” traveling at approximately 80 kilometers per second (50 miles per second) — or the equivalent of 235 times the speed of sound on Earth.
Each highway is 450 kilometers (280 miles) across, or just about the entire length of the country of Ireland from its northern-most point to its southern-most one, the Society said. These flows are inside a region of dense plasma known as a solar filament. These areas can erupt outward from the sun in phenomenon known ascoronal mass ejections (CMEs), and carry billions of tons of plasma into space.
“If a CME travels in the right direction it can interact with the Earth, disturbing the terrestrial magnetic field in a ‘space weather’ event that can have a range of destructive consequences from damaging satellite electronics to overloading power grids on the ground,” the researchers said. By discovering and learning more about the nature of these so-called solar highways, scientists might be able “to better understand the driving force for these eruptions and help predict with greater accuracy when CMEs might take place.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the work of my colleagues in developing Hi-C,” Walsh said. “The camera is effectively a microscope that lets us view small scale events on the Sun in unprecedented detail. For the first time we can unpick the detailed nature of the solar corona, helping us to predict when outbursts from this region might head towards the Earth.”
M3.2 Solar Flare
M3.2 Solar Flare
A moderate solar flare reaching M3.2 was detected around Sunspot 1748 at 08:57 UTC Friday morning. The latest solar flare event was associated with a 10cm Radio Burst (TenFlare) measuring 450sfu, along with Type II and IV Radio Emissions (Sweep Frequency Events). The active region is now in a geoeffective position for Earth directed Coronal Mass Ejecitons. I will provide further updates should a CME be associated. Stay Tuned for more information. Image below by SDO.
Major Ed Dames – Japan/North Korea/Solar Killshot (Dramatic Predictions)
The world’s foremost remote viewing teacher, Edward A. Dames, Major, U.S. Army (ret.) is a decorated military intelligence officer and an original member of the U.S. Army prototype remote viewing training program. He served as the training and operations officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency’s psychic intelligence (PSIINT) collection unit, and currently serves as executive director for the Matrix Intelligence Agency, a private consulting group.
He served as both training and operations officer for the U.S. government’s TOP SECRET psychic espionage unit.
M6.5 Solar Flare + CME / Proton Levels
M6.5 Solar Flare + CME / Proton Levels
The strongest solar flare in quite some time took place within the past couple of hours around Sunspot 1719. The moderately strong event measuring M6.5 took place at 07:16 UTC. A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is now visible in the latest STEREO Ahead and STEREO Behind COR2 imagery. Because 1719 is now squarely facing Earth, the plasma should be directed this way. This will raise the chances of geomagnetic storming by this weekend. Stay Tuned to SolarHam.com for the latest information.
Click HERE for video capturing the Solar Flare and CME.
ALERT: Type II Radio Emission
Begin Time: 2013 Apr 11 0702 UTC
Estimated Velocity: 1370 km/s
Description: Type II emissions occur in association with eruptions on the sun and typically indicate a coronal mass ejection is associated with a flare event.
ALERT: Type IV Radio Emission
Begin Time: 2013 Apr 11 0702 UTC
Description: Type IV emissions occur in association with major eruptions on the sun and are typically associated with strong coronal mass ejections and solar radiation storms.
CME Update: A bright Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is visible within the new Lasco imagery. It appears in this image that a bulk of the plasma is directed towards the east, however although hard to see in the image below, there is an earthward component that should impact Earth. Stay Tuned for updates.
Proton Levels: Energetic Proton levels streaming past Earth are now on the rise following the solar flare from earlier. A radiation storm will soon be possible.
Credit – http://www.solarham.net/