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The Not So Quiet Sun

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By Barry Ritholtz - August 9th, 2010, 3:11PM

NASA

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See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

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Explanation: After a long solar minimum, the Sun is no longer so quiet. On August 1, this extreme ultraviolet snapshot of the Sun from the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a complex burst of activity playing across the Sun’s northern hemisphere. The false-color image shows the hot solar plasma at temperatures ranging from 1 to 2 million kelvins. Along with the erupting filaments and prominences, a small(!) solar flare spawned in the active region at the left was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), a billion-ton cloud of energetic particles headed for planet Earth. Making the 93 million mile trip in only two days, the CME impacted Earth’s magnetosphere, triggering a geomagnetic storm and both northern and southern auroral displays

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Category: Science, Weekend.

Comments

Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.

2 Responses to “The Not So Quiet Sun”

  1. Jack Damn Says:
    August 9th, 2010 at 3:15 pm

    Recent solar flare in HD video:

    ► http://gizmodo.com/5607259/watch-the-suns-epic-cosmic-belch-in-hd

    No audio.

  2. Griz054 Says:
    August 10th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    I think you’re overstating the sun’s actual activity. The latest sunspot chart tells more of the actual story. Solar activity is still very low and appears ready to continue that trend through this solar cycle.

    http://www.solarcycle24.com/sunspots.htm

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