WiZiD Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 804 Group: *** Clan Members Followers: 32 Topic Count: 446 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 3600 Content Per Day: 0.63 Reputation: 1053 Achievement Points: 24386 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 4 Joined: 11/28/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: June 3 Birthday: 04/25/1960 Device: Windows Posted March 8, 2012 http://www.wmur.com/weather/30629554/detail.html WASHINGTON -- The largest solar flare in five years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights. The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start smacking Earth around 1:25 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. They say the flare is growing as it speeds outward from the sun. "It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He called it the sun's version of "Super Tuesday." The solar storm is likely to last through Friday morning, but the region that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. He said another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth right after this. But for now, scientists are waiting to see what happens Thursday when the charged particles hit Earth at 4 million mph. NASA solar physicist Alex Young added, "It could give us a bit of a jolt." But he said this is far from a super solar storm. The storm is coming after an earlier and weaker solar eruption happened Sunday, Kunches said. This newer blast of particles will probably arrive slightly later than forecasters first thought. That means for North America the "good" part of a solar storm -- the one that creates more noticeable auroras or Northern Lights -- will peak Thursday evening. Auroras could dip as far south as the Great Lakes states or lower, Kunches said, but a full moon will make them harder to see. Auroras are "probably the treat we get when the sun erupts," Kunches said. But there is the potential for widespread problems. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation when all three types of solar storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Kunches said. That means "a whole host of things" could follow, he said. The magnetic part of the storm has the potential to trip electrical power grids. Kunches said power companies around the Earth have been alerted for possible outages. The timing and speed of the storm determines whether it will knock off power grids, he said. In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose power. Solar storms can also make global positioning systems less accurate, which is mostly a problem for precision drilling and other technologies, Kunches said. There also could be GPS outages. The storm also can cause communication problems and added radiation around the north and south poles, which will probably force airlines to reroute flights. Some already have done so, Kunches said. Satellites could be affected by the storm, too. NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the space agency isn't taking any extra precautions to protect astronauts on the International Space Station from added radiation from the solar storm. Awards
Sonovabich Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 82 Group: ** Registered Users Followers: 0 Topic Count: 1535 Topics Per Day: 0.27 Content Count: 5022 Content Per Day: 0.87 Reputation: 5198 Achievement Points: 131537 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 116 Joined: 09/02/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: June 9 Device: Windows Posted March 8, 2012 Yup saw that on the news this morning, it said one of these flares will have more energy in it then the whole of the human race has ever used and will use for the next 10,000 years
2_MANY_BEERS Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 96 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 108 Topic Count: 1049 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 8817 Content Per Day: 1.53 Reputation: 3309 Achievement Points: 62219 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 5 Joined: 09/02/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: April 19 Birthday: 06/30/1954 Device: Windows Posted March 8, 2012 I had xfire issues with internet last night. One was JCSNIPES. Other was Joemamasbut. And internet kept dropping out also. Thank God. LOL
DEEJAYKEG Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 1238 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 35 Topic Count: 1207 Topics Per Day: 0.22 Content Count: 6083 Content Per Day: 1.09 Reputation: 4985 Achievement Points: 50728 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 11 Joined: 03/12/10 Status: Offline Last Seen: April 11, 2024 Posted March 8, 2012 The Press always print sensationalist, exaggerated rubbish when such routine natural events occur. This CME comes a few days since one idiot employed by a broadsheet published ridiculous "news" about a 1-in-625 chance of an asteroid strike and then waffled on in gibberish about "millions of light years". Proper science correspondents are few and far between. I tend to ignore the scaremongers and head over to NASA to read more balanced and scientific text. I know one of these knocked out power in Quebec 22 years ago but that level of interference with our technology is very rare indeed. Awards
2_MANY_BEERS Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 96 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 108 Topic Count: 1049 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 8817 Content Per Day: 1.53 Reputation: 3309 Achievement Points: 62219 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 5 Joined: 09/02/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: April 19 Birthday: 06/30/1954 Device: Windows Posted March 8, 2012 OK DJ Just got done rebooting all my shit cause we had a power outage of about 15 minutes. Good thing I have whole house generator to keep my beer cold. LOL BeerGoat 1
hardcore Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 86 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 27 Topic Count: 223 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 1824 Content Per Day: 0.32 Reputation: 464 Achievement Points: 13395 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/02/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: October 5, 2022 Birthday: 06/29/1967 Posted March 8, 2012 We will see what happens. Time will tell. Awards
GorillaXI Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 62 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 73 Topic Count: 480 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 4124 Content Per Day: 0.71 Reputation: 1413 Achievement Points: 27905 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 10 Joined: 09/02/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: July 4, 2015 Birthday: 06/16/1972 Posted March 8, 2012 Wiz, only you would be concerned about GPS disruption. You couldn't find the way out of a wet paper bag. Go down to your bar and drink another beer. BeerGoat 1
Hunter1948 Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 1850 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 98 Topic Count: 328 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 8620 Content Per Day: 1.60 Reputation: 4222 Achievement Points: 55994 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 5 Joined: 09/29/10 Status: Offline Last Seen: November 29, 2023 Birthday: 06/19/1948 Posted March 8, 2012 Boy that should get my pacemaker rocking. Awards
Astronomer Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 2069 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 24 Topic Count: 214 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 2411 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 2409 Achievement Points: 18298 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 7 Joined: 12/25/10 Status: Offline Last Seen: October 2, 2023 Birthday: 08/08/1966 Posted March 8, 2012 I had xfire issues with internet last night. One was JCSNIPES. Other was Joemamasbut. And internet kept dropping out also. Thank God. LOL Yeahhhh... I've received some oddball X-fire text chats from them . Completely one-sided as I don't respond. Awards
Astronomer Posted March 8, 2012 Member ID: 2069 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 24 Topic Count: 214 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 2411 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 2409 Achievement Points: 18298 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 7 Joined: 12/25/10 Status: Offline Last Seen: October 2, 2023 Birthday: 08/08/1966 Posted March 8, 2012 So far so good. No damage or outages from the flares. The earth's magnetic field has done a good job in keeping the worst of it away from causing effects down here. Most modern satellites use hardened electronics and/or the satellites themselves can go into "safe" mode. there's good up-to-date info at www.spaceweather.com Awards
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