Bombarded by Particles....Whoaaat??

by Sentinel 12 Replies latest social current

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  Sentinel

  Yesterday near the end of my work day, around 4:30, I was listening to the best news station here on my work radio, (WTOP) and heard something that seemed to be big news to me. There was an informative discussion about the affects of this Solar storm, and the consensus was that we may even have to totally disconnect all electronic devices, like telephones, PC's, VCR's, to "avoid damage". It was stated that relying on the surge protectors will not work. Seems like our Sun is having Solar Flares of the enormous kind, and we are/will be affected. In fact, it is the third most powerful flare in recorded history, schedule to begin to hit earth midday today. (In '89, an entire Canadian province had their power knocked out due to magnetic orientation.) This newer one has been classified as an X17-18, class S4. The affects tend to escalate over several days. This is major stuff.

  There are some good sites that I've checked into on the net for more information. One of the most informative is:

  http://www.spaceweather.com

  I believe in being informed, so I am sharing this with you. Little has been said to us via normal TV and radio broadcasts at this point. The reason is because there is only a one to two hour window where they can really let people know of extreme danger. That's not much time! If you live in areas like Canada, Alaska, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and US norther border states--and other Northern areas, right now you are seeing some spectacular sites in the heavens. Some have put their pictures up on the net. These are the Auroras which we all are familiar with. Yet, this is the biggest storm yet that we know about. These Auroras could descend to the lower latitudes when the particles sweep past Earth. It's a "wait and see" thing.
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  Panda

  Sentinel, Thanks for the website info. I've been hearing about this for a week or so and wondered when the actual solar flare was to happen. Magnetism is fascinating. It's the real beginning of studying physics. And it's the power of magnetism that keeps things moving. While there is no perpetual motion machine, a magnetic field almost looks like one. But the changes in magnetic fields is what will affect the Earth for the next few days. This is the sort of occurrance which I hope will get folks noticing the awesomeness of the universe and forget petty problems.
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  moonwillow

  Thanks for the website Sentinel.
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  Sentinel

  Thanks Panda and Moonwillow ,
  

  When all else fails---look up!

  When one compares the "flame wars" here and on other forums, with this spectacular event that affects our universe and our solar system and planets, nothing else really matters at all, does it?
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  rocketman

  It's Armageddon.
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  Elsewhere

  and the consensus was that we may even have to totally disconnect all electronic devices, like telephones, PC's, VCR's, to "avoid damage".

  That is a big pile of:

  These Solar Storms happen more frequently than most people are aware. It just so happens that the media has latched onto the last two recent ones. Overloads like that described only happen to large-scale circuits... like power grids and long phone lines... and the industries that control them have developed may safety measures to protect their systems. Satellites that are directly exposed are shielded and are placed in a "safe" mode during such storms. Granted, there is a chance for localized problems, but nothing on a large scale is likely to happen because of the safety measures in place.
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  tinkerbell82

  Else- i had read that this solar storm has caused a particular upset because it's an unusually intense one, and also because it breaks from the normal schedula of solar storms; i think i read that a major storm usually occurs about every eleven years, and the last one was in 2000. i'm not that well schooled in this subject matter though, is there any truth to that?
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  Mindchild

  I thought I would jump in this thread because of my background in geophysics and solar physics. The point I wanted to address is why, in spite of dire warnings from the news that our electrical network and sensitive electronics are going to fry from the solar flare's, that sometimes there isn't much excitement at all?

  Without getting technical, I would say there are two major factors that play a role in what kind of effects we see. The first is if the ejected particles are even going to hit us at all. This is because the particles are strongly bound together by a magnetic field and travel that way through space. Most of the time, the ejected solar particles travel in a curved route that may or may not hit the earth. The other factor, is the polarity of the particles that do hit the magnetic field of the earth. If the particles have a northward pointing component, they don't interact as strongly with the magnetosphere and our power grids for example are not overwhelmed.

  The solar storm that hit us today, caused the "Northern Lights" to be seen just before dawn in CA, and caused a huge geomagnetic storm, but it could have been worse if the particles had a sourthern polarity, which they didn't. Here is an excellent summary of the facts in today's issue of New Scientist: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994326 Anyway, it doesn't look like the powergrid will meltdown but if you live up North, you can see a great light show tonight.

  Skipper
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  Sentinel

  Tinkerbell, according to what I have been reading, there have been many major energy bursts from the Sun in the past; but as Mindchild explained in his reply, most of these flares have kept connected together in their path, and have usually deflected past our planet, on a northward direction, which causes the least affects to earth's electromagnetic field. However, as early in our past as 1989, a whole section of Canada was without power. Personally, I believe that anything coming at us from outer space that can potential take out power is something I want to keep a eye on.

  Granted, most large power grids have protective devices in place to withstand "most" of these flares. Even if our scientists didn't let us know what was going on, many people have only to look up in the sky to see that something is happening. Many folks have telescopes of their own these days. People are more tuned into our earth and the universe as to what is going on.

  Rocketman, actually I was not surprised when people here where I work were discussing the "fulfillment of Revelations" with all of this. I didn't get to hear my JW mom's version of what the borg believes these events to be--whether or not Armageddon is here at last.

  Unlike Elsewhere, I don't consider the news about taking steps to save our electronic devices as a pile of $#@&. (I'd dislike very much having to replace such electronic items, and all the stored data, not to mention overload and fire.) But, of course, we only "know" what we are told. For instance, would we be told if this planet has experienced a close encounter of the third kind? ...life forms from other areas of the universe? I doubt it. Would we be told about an eminent hit by a potentially life-destroying meteor? I doubt it. We can only get visuals of these things from the movies and books.

  The powers that be feel we can't handle that kind of information---even though many have seen things with their own eyes, or had personal experiences they cannot deny. The government will tell them "it didn't happen". Still, I believe we have a right to know. Knowledge is a powerful tool. Accurate information is essential. We all seek the truth. It's just difficult to know sometimes, what is truth. That much I will certainly agree with; but, why take a chance? Why would anyone go and sit on the toilet without knowing they have TP available? --or without knowing that the toilet was going to flush when they finished and pressed down on that lever. My guess is, no one likes even "that" kind of surprise.

  I don't like to be caught off-guard and unprepared, but I don't over-react either, especially where the media is known to make a circus out of everything. I don't believe anyone in the media over-played this EVENT at all. The information I heard came from a seasoned Astronomer from NASA, and other viable sites. I don't appreciate unwarranted "doom and gloom" messages, (like worrying about Armageddon every day I lived, and long after, until I got free of that!) but I do want the facts if something is going to happen, and it "might" affect humans and animals on this planet. With the facts, I can at least make educated decisions about what I will do, or how I choose to react.
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  JeffT

  I find it interesting to note that according to the time stamp on the original post, the storm had already hit about 8 hours earlier. The sun has an eleven year cylce on these things, and we are currently on the down side of the cylce which makes the current event scientifically interesting, but as usual the media have grabbed a story and sensationalized it.