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We just experienced a C9.3 solar flare and are now experiencing continual CMEs from all the X-, M-, and C-solar flares of the past four days.
X-FLARE! Earth orbiting satellites have just detected another strong solar flare, this one from departing sunspot AR1875. The blast, which peaked on Oct. 29th at approximately 2148 UT (02:48 PDT), measured X2 on the Richter Scale of Solar Flares. NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:
AR1875, AR1882 and AR1885 have 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic fields that harbor energy for X-class solar flares. One of these spots in particular, AR1882, is almost directly facing Earth, so any eruptions it unleashes would almost surely be geoeffective. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class flares and a 35% chance of X-flares on Oct. 29th.
We were just hit with an X2.3 solar flare and the lower ban also showed an M8 solar flare, which is a record. Radio broadcast channels are silent.
No WWB.
NOAA alert:
X-ray Class: X2.3
Location: N05W90
NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong
Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point.
Radio - Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour.
Last edited by Maria on Mon 7 September 2015 5:33 pm, edited 4 times in total.
We were just hit with an X2.3 solar flare and the lower ban also showed an M8 solar flare, which is a record. Radio broadcast channels are silent.
No WWB.
NOAA alert:
X-ray Class: X2.3
Location: N05W90
NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong
Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point.
Radio - Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour.
What does this mean in laymen terms? This information is too overwhelming for me to compute. Thanks.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Ps. 50)
Basic Space Weather Phenomena: Auroras, Coronal Holes, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), Earth's Magnetosphere, F10.7 CM Radio Emissions, Galactic Cosmic Rays, Geomagnetic Storms, Ionosphere, Ionospheric scintillation, Radiation belts, Solar Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), Solar flares, Solar radiation storms, solar wind, Sunspots, Total Electron Content (TEC), and bright spots in CMEs.
WWB = federally licensed radio station with time and frequency standards. Professional broadcast engineers use this station to set their time pieces and watches.
X-class solar flares = very high energy electromagnet emissions from our sun; huge explosions from the sun that might disrupt power grids and block out radio communications if they were to be directed at our earth. They can reach the earth in about eight minutes as they travel the speed of light. (see swx booklet page 2 above)
CME = Coronal Mass Ejections = bursts of plasma from the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere. These explosions are slower moving and can reach the earth in one to four days. (see swx booklet, page 2 above)
NOAA uses a logarithmic (not linear) scale. Incidentally, earthquake magnitudes are also measured using a logarithmic scale. Therefore, even though an X1 Solar Flare is much weaker than an X2, an X10 is huge. Any solar flare that is rated X6 or higher might be considered to be an act of God especially if it were to be directed at our planet. The X6 that hit our planet in July 2010 was of such a magnitude that it was termed the Bastille
Having watched the sun through NOAA's websites, I have noticed that something unusual is going on.
I have seen huge X1 and X2 come from the western or eastern limb of the sun as an active region (with sunspots) will emerge or depart from the earth-facing side of the sun. The resulting X flares and CMEs have almost always been directed away from earth, thus we have been spared. The website, http://www.spaceweather.com, has warned us that if huge X solar flares were to explode from our sun, that are directed toward the earth, we could then experience power grid disruptions and communication problems, but lately, no X flares have been directed toward earth.
BIG SUNSPOT TURNS TOWARD EARTH: One of the biggest sunspots of the current solar cycle emerged over the sun's eastern limb three days ago and now it is turning toward Earth. This movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the approach of sunspot AR1890
