Sunspot AR1429

Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:56 am » by **Istvan12**

Seems that sunspot AR1429 is going to be interesting to watch for next week. maybe will die down now but might get stronger.

On March 4th it erupted with an X1.1 flare but not directed towards Earth

Now just few hours ago this is from www.spaceweather.com , "Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected an X5-class solar flare from big sunspot AR1429. The blast peaked on March 7th at 00:28 UT. Radiation storms and radio blackouts are possible."

lets watch and see.

Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:06 am » by **Frutty**

Thanks for the info istvan. Also glad to see a pic of the sun without the UFOS swarming around

:hiho:

Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:32 am » by **pretzellogic**

Thanks for posting I read up on this a little more.

_______________________________________________

Radiation Blast from Big Solar Flare May Threaten Satellites

http://www.space.com/14791-solar-flare- ... dline+Feed)&utm_content=Google+Reader

Radiation Blast from Big Solar Flare May Threaten Satellitesby Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff WriterDate: 05 March 2012 Time: 05:26 PM ETFOLLOW USSHARE

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted the X1.1-class solar flare that erupted from the sun at 11:13 p.m. EST on March 4 (0413 GMT March 5).
CREDIT: NASA/SDO

View full size image
A radiation wave kicked up by the eruption of a powerful solar flare late Sunday (March 4) will likely miss the Earth, but could catch several NASA satellites in its crosshairs, scientists say.

The radiation concern stems from an X1.1-class flare (the strongest type of sun storm) that blasted from the surface of the sun last night at 11:13 p.m. EST (0413 GMT March 5). The flare unleashed a cloud of charged particles, called a coronal mass ejection (CME).

This wave of solar plasma will mostly miss hitting Earth, but some spacecraft, including NASA's sun-watching Stereo B satellite, the Messenger spacecraft at Mercury and the agency's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, are in path of the resulting radiation storm, according to scientists at the Space Weather Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"It's a shower of radiation, and this high-energy radiation can impact spacecraft and some of the instruments," Yihua Zheng, a lead researcher at the Space Weather Center, told SPACE.com. "Stereo B has already seen some radiation, but we don't have real-time data from the other spacecraft, so we don't know for sure. But, based on the location and the size of the CME, we think those spacecraft are likely to receive a high dose of radiation."

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Zheng and her colleagues at the Space Weather Center issued alerts to the scientists who manage the Stereo, Messenger and Spitzer missions so that they can take the necessary precautions to protect the probes and their onboard instruments. [Worst Solar Storms in History]

"It's up to the mission control people — they know how the instruments and the spacecraft behave," Zheng said. "They will do some preventative measures and just monitor the situation. We provide the information, but it's really up to each individual spacecraft's mission control team."

Last night's solar flare is only the second X-class eruption so far this year. X-class flares are the most powerful type of solar storm. M-class eruptions are considered mid-range, and C-class flares are the weakest.

The massive sunspot region AR1429 has been particularly active since it emerged on March 2, 2012.
CREDIT: NASA/SDO
View full size imageThe eruption came from a massive sunspot region called AR1429, which is at least four to five times larger than Earth, Zheng said. The AR1429 sunspot region continues to be quite active since it emerged on March 2, and scientists are predicting it will spew more flares as the week goes on.

When a powerful X-class flare is aimed directly at Earth, it can sometimes cause significant disruptions to satellites in space and power grids and communications infrastructure on the ground. Strong flares and CMEs can also pose potential hazards to astronauts on the International Space Station.

While the CME triggered by last night's flare is not expected to hit Earth, scientists will continue to closely monitor the situation. Experts at the Space Weather Prediction Center, which is operated by the National Weather Service, anticipate only minor geomagnetic storms beginning late Tuesday (March 6) and lasting through Wednesday (March 7).

"Earth won't see much impact," Zheng said. "The radiation is also going to miss Earth a little bit — we could still see some enhancements, but they won't be dramatic."

The sun's activity ebbs and flows on an 11-year cycle. The sun is in the midst of Solar Cycle 24, and activity is expected to ramp up toward the solar maximum in 2013.

Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:24 am » by **Vipress**

We just had another X-5 today...It's really heating up!

MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Big sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another major flare. This one is the strongest yet, an X5-class eruption on March 7th at 00:28 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme UV flash:

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:30 am » by **Gurupada**

Our Sun appears to be terribly angry...

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c2/1024/latest.html

Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:03 pm » by **Gurupada**

THESE PHOTOS OF THE SUN SHOW SOME STRANGE UNIFORMITY... AS IF ALL THE INSTRUMENTS ARE A BIT OUT OF ORDER, OR WHAT?

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html

Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:33 pm » by **Dagnamski**

AGGGGGgggg I'M BURNING!

Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:15 pm » by **Gurupada**

What's wrong with the Sun since the last few days? Though reports assure that there's nothing wrong, the Sun seems to have gone wild...

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c2/512/