Nasa scientists braced for 'solar tsunami' to hit earth

[Guest trigem]

NASA: Cosmic 'superstorm' more crippling than 20 Katrinas

The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion on the sun, scientists have warned.

The solar fireworks at the weekend were recorded by several satellites, including Nasa’s new Solar Dynamics Observatory which watched its shock wave rippling outwards. Astronomers from all over the world witnessed the huge flare above a giant sunspot the size of the Earth, which they linked to an even larger eruption across the surface of Sun.

The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a “solar tsunami†racing 93 million miles across space.

Images from the SDO hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into space, the New Scientist reported.

Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.

It is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights.

"This eruption is directed right at us," said Leon Golub, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

"It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."

Scientists have warned that a really big solar eruption could destroy satellites and wreck power and communications grids around the globe if it happened today.

Nasa recently warned that Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation “space stormâ€.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed in June that senior space agency scientists believed the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber†sometime around 2013.

It remains unclear, however, how much damage this latest eruption will cause the world’s communication tools.

Dr Lucie Green, of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Surrey, followed the flare-ups using Japan's orbiting Hinode telescope.

"What wonderful fireworks the Sun has been producing,†the UK solar expert said.

“This was a very rare event – not one, but two almost simultaneous eruptions from different locations on the sun were launched toward the Earth.

"These eruptions occur when immense magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere lose their stability and can no longer be held down by the Sun's huge gravitational pull. Just like a coiled spring suddenly being released, they erupt into space.â€

She added: "It looks like the first eruption was so large that it changed the magnetic fields throughout half the Sun's visible atmosphere and provided the right conditions for the second eruption.

"Both eruptions could be Earth-directed but may be travelling at different speeds.

“This means we have a very good chance of seeing major and prolonged effects, such as the northern lights at low latitudes."

A Nasa spokesman was unavailable for comment.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

I call baloney

[Guest Bluemax]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thMm-7RFsm0

Thats all I have to say about that

[Mike.357]

don't go getting my hopes up.

as for 2013, clearly we will not be here then.

[vontar]

don't go getting my hopes up.

as for 2013, clearly we will not be here then.

I am not worried about the world ending in 2012, I am worried about everyone hording everything. I went though this in 1999. how soon we all forget.

BTW, assuming we get though 2012, they already have the next 2 picked out, but I am getting ahead of the story. They have to keep the masses concerned about something.

[Mike.357]

Hoard for what? There will be nothing left. It is the end.

[vontar]

Hoard for what? There will be nothing left. It is the end.

There again, i am now worried the world is going to end in 2012. I could probably write a book on why, at least a dam big thread.

I am worried people will hoard up toilet paper and twinkies.

[StPatrick]

If any of you live away from cities (you know - where you can actually see the stars at night), you may want to step outside and look north. It sounds like any borealis effects will be too far north to see (unless the current ejection is a serious thumper), but if I were somewhere with clear lights, I'd spend a bit looking northward just for the heck of it. Imagine seeing the "northern lights" in TN. It would certainly be a good story for when you're sitting in a rocker many years from now.

[vontar]

If any of you live away from cities (you know - where you can actually see the stars at night), you may want to step outside and look north. It sounds like any borealis effects will be too far north to see (unless the current ejection is a serious thumper), but if I were somewhere with clear lights, I'd spend a bit looking northward just for the heck of it. Imagine seeing the "northern lights" in TN. It would certainly be a good story for when you're sitting in a rocker many years from now.

It has not been unheard of to see them in OH.

[hipower]

Just in from the famous Al Gore...Solar Flares? Gosh, I bet you'll believe in Global Warming now.

[eapking]

12/21/2012,,,,let the hype begin

[StPatrick]

Looks like the borealis lights won't make it far enough south to be visible, according to this: Northern Hemisphere Enlarged View

Too bad. I'll bet it's awesome.

[StPatrick]

Just in from the famous Al Gore...Solar Flares? Gosh, I bet you'll believe in Global Warming now.

I know...it's crazy. Does that mean that the enormous thermonuclear furnace in the sky might effect the Earth more than my car? Zounds! It seems outlandish, but what if it's true? Could the sun be important somehow? Scienceyists are not concerned, as no grant money has been allocated to study this "sun".

[Mike.357]

Northern lights are pretty spectacular. I saw them once when we lived in northern Illinois. I pulled off the side of the road out in farm land and froze my butt off watching them for about an hour.

[enfield]

Ohh God -- we're all gonna die!

Save us, Obama!

[enfield]

. . . .Too bad. I'll bet it's awesome.

It's pretty neat. I sat around a campfire in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and watched them once.

[Guest db99wj]

Never seen them, but is on my list of things that I want to see. They are fascinating to me.

[Guest DRB]

Solar Flares?

HUH??????

Are you saying that you don't believe that there are solar flares?

How about oxygen?

Radiation?

Solar flares are actually real - Al Gore, or even Al Einstein, has zip to do with it. They are what they are.

[kb4ns]

12/21/2012,,,,let the hype begin

I'm gonna laugh my ass off on 12/22/2012 when all those idiots realize they still have to rush out and buy Christmas presents...

[eapking]

I'm waiting to see if any of the UK gambling books starts a line on this. Might be nobody around to collect (ha ha).

I'm betting that this is the biggest non-event since that nut predicted Memphis was going to have a super-quake (on a specific date) about 10 years ago. Has anyone considered that the Mayans might have just run out of room to write any more dates on their wheel-calendar?

[Rightwinger]

They got it all wrong. That thing is Hugh Hefner's little black book. He started it in his 20's. And yes, you are correct, he just ran out of room on it. He'd still be writing numbers down but he can't recall why he needs to. One of the first numbers on it is to the design manager for DIRT.

[Rightwinger]

Oh and the real reason I came here to post. I did see some weak but clearly visible aurora while traveling south of Nashville to go hunting a few years back. I was just about to get on I-65 off 840 when I kept thinking I saw this green cloud back towards Nashville (north west). I stopped just before the exit ramps and was very protected from Franklin's city lights by distance and those hills for anyone whose done 840. It looked like a fluffy semi transparent green cloud. I got out to make sure I did not have a reflection on the truck windows and no, it was there. I kinda figured it must be aurora or the govt was back blasting on HARPP...LOL. Heard on the news the next night that one of the more energetic storms had forced the Aurora down over the mid and northern US and I was lucky enough to see a portion of it. Probably 3 or 4 years ago if anyone else recalls seeing or hearing about it.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

This is funny too.

[kb4ns]

Wow. That's some serious tin-foil hat stuff right there!

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

Wow. That's some serious tin-foil hat stuff right there!

Can you believe that the visible spectrum... is... IN FACT........ VISIBLE

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