*

FAIR USE FOR DISCUSSION & EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

*

http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=09&month=08&year=2011

*

MAJOR SOLAR FLARE

*

This morning at 0805 UT, the magnetic canopy of sunspot 1263 erupted, producing a powerful X7-class solar flare: SDO movie. The blast caused a brief HF radio blackout on the daylit side of Earth. SOHO coronagraphs show a CME emerging from the blast site. At most, Earth would received a glancing blow from the flank of the cloud on or about August 11th; a complete miss is more likely, however. Stay tuned for updates.

*

view movie at ...

http://spaceweather.com/swpod2011/09aug11/x7.mov



The brunt of the explosion was not Earth directed.

Nevertheless, a minor proton storm is in progress around our planet, which could affect satellites in high-altitude orbits.

Also, radiation from flare created waves of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere, briefly disrupting communications at some VLF and HF radio frequencies.

I know my cell phone and my hubby's cell phone that is 2,000 miles way are both acting funky and my satellite tv, signal has been going in and out, which it has never done before..and in the last three days our electricity has went out and came back on 4 or 5 times..

hmmm ... could be the solar influence

this X7 class flare is so far the strongest this year

signs are everywhere ... i think time is about up

Grace:

For this to happen on the 9th of Av, almost HAS TO be
a MAJOR sign!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking that this again this AM...

The “sun” is described “like a Bridegroom coming forth”.

...Psalm 19
...1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
...the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
...2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
...night after night they display knowledge.
...3 There is no speech or language
...where their voice is not heard.
...4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
...their words to the ends of the world.
...In the heavens he has pitched a tent FOR THE SUN,
...5 which is LIKE A BRIDEGROOM COMING FORTH
...from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run
...his course.
...6 It rises at one end of the heavens
...and makes its circuit to the other;
...nothing is hidden from its heat.

BLESSINGS AND THANKS!!!!!!

Calvin

Sun unleashes the largest solar flare in years
'We lucked out' because eruption wasn't facing Earth, so few ill effects expected

LINK

updated 8/9/2011 1:20:22 PM ET 2011-08-09T17:20:22
An extremely powerful solar flare, the largest in more than four years, rocked the sun early Tuesday, but is unlikely to wreak any serious havoc here on Earth, scientists say.

"It was a big flare," said Joe Kunches, a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center. "We lucked out because the site of the eruption at the sun was not facing the Earth, so we will probably feel no ill effects."

..Today's solar flare began at 3:48 a.m. EDT, and was rated a class X6.9 on the three-class scale scientists use to measure the strength of solar flares. The strongest type of solar eruption is class X, while class C represents the weakest and class M flares are medium-strength events.

The flare is the largest one yet in the sun's current cycle, which began in 2008 and is expected to last until around 2020. Solar activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year sun weather cycle, with the star currently heading toward a solar maximum in 2013.

"This flare had a GOES X-ray magnitude of X6.9, meaning it was more than 3 times larger than the previous largest flare of this solar cycle — the X2.2 that occurred on Feb 15, 2011," scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, a space observatory that monitors the sun, wrote in an update.

Before the Feb. 15 storm, the largest recent solar flare occurred in December 2006, when an X9-class solar storm erupted from the sun.

Solar flares occur when magnetic field lines on the sun get tangled up into knots, building potential energy until they reach a tipping point. Then, that energy is converted into heat, light and the motion of charged particles.

While all X-class solar eruptions are major events, they pose the greatest threat to Earth when they are aimed directly at the planet. During those events the sun often releases a cloud of plasma called a coronal mass ejection into space, and sometimes toward Earth. This ejection hurls charged particles that can damage satellites, endanger astronauts in orbit and interfere with power systems, communications and other infrastructure on the planet.

Today's solar flare, and resulting coronal mass ejection (CME) was not aimed at us, however.

"Because of its position the CME is going to shoot out into space and not be Earth-directed, and we don’t expect any big geomagnetic storm with this," Kunches told Space.com. "We did luck out. If this would have happened a week ago, who knows?"

However, some VLF and HF radio communications blackouts have been reported, according to Spaceweather.com, a website that monitors space weather events.

Whatever particles do head our way should reach us in a few days.

"The cloud will probably miss Earth," SpaceWeather.com wrote. "At this time, however, we cannot rule out a glancing blow from the flank of the CME on or about Aug. 11th."

The plus side of such a collision is often unusually spectacular auroras, or northern and southern lights, which occur when charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field.

yes, i wholeheartedly agree, calvin!!

on 9 av... what a sign!