Solar Power - Magnetic Energy

Solar Flare last July 6th - Image courtesy SDO/NASA

Last July 6th a major BLAST in the Sun released a pent-up magnetic energy which triggered the recent auroras seen in some regions of our globe.

If the jettisoned particles come from the part of the sun facing Earth at that moment, they're more likely to reach our atmosphere.

The tumultuous solar storm sparked on July 6 brought about a radio blackout, geomagnetic storms, and of course, auroras. from here

According to the latest status update from ESA's Space Weather team: The CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) has not arrived at Earth. However, we can see some increase in the solar wind speed and dynamic pressure. The flow of protons from the Sun is increasing, which is an indication that the CME is on its way.

Some moderate to strong geomagnetic storm maybe expected, starting this evening. 

And there could be some rather nice Northern Lights tonight..!

 Crater Lake    -    Photo: Brad Goldpaint

Sun Flares - Impact Predicted for Today

Yesterday I've posted about the enormous sun explosion which unleashed  one of the biggest flares ever seen during its current activity cycle.

An X5.4-class outburst strong enough to trigger a radio blackout. The resulting geomagnetic storm could affect electrical grids, communication links, satellite navigation systems and airline schedules over the next couple of days.

First impacts are scheduled to reach Earth today.

March 6th and the Massive Sun Eruptions

Last March 6th, 2012 there was a major sun eruption that caused a gigantic flare caught on tape.

This movie was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in the 171 and 131 Angstrom wavelength. One of the most dramatic features is the way the entire surface of the sun seems to ripple with the force of the eruption. This movement comes from something called EIT waves -- because they were first discovered with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on the Solar Heliospheric Observatory. Since SDO captures images every 12 seconds, it has been able to map the full evolution of these waves and confirm that they can travel across the full breadth of the sun. The waves move at over a million miles per hour, zipping from one side of the sun to the other in about an hour. The movie shows two distinct waves. The first seems to spread in all directions; the second is narrower, moving toward the southeast. Such waves are associated with, and perhaps trigger, fast coronal mass ejections, so it is likely that each one is connected to one of the two CMEs that erupted on March 6.

Scientists said that they had implications with electric sources on Earth, causing some energie break ups.
Caption: NASA/SDO