By now we’re used to the images. In brilliant orange, neon green, or electric blue, we see the ever changing surface of the Sun, its sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections. From Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), Solar Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO), or STEREO, these images combine to tell us what’s going on on the Sun’s surface and how it might affect [...]
Post Tagged with: “SOHO”
Sun Spews Two Coronal Mass Ejections at Satellites as Sunspot Region Grows
The two coronal mass ejections (CME) emitted April 20 and 21 are not headed towards Earth, but they might affect operations of NASA’s Messenger satellite and STEREO-A, one of a pair of solar observing satellites, as they shoot straight for Mercury. In the meantime, the Earth-facing sunspot region AR1726 which only made an appearance on April 19, has now swollen [...]
Sun Spews Storms Following Quiet Spell
2013 was supposed to be the year of solar maximum, generally accompanied by a very active solar surface. Instead, the year has been on the quiet side, causing some scientists to even question whether we’re experiencing a maximum at all. But on April 11, the Sun finally woke up and showed its spots. In the early morning hours, an M6.5 [...]
Solar Filaments and Wind Stream Produce Week of Aurorae
On February 9, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught a solar magnetic filament eruption in mid-act. The billowing coronal mass ejection (CME) shot out into space at 800 km/s, streaking just slightly north of Earth, with a possible glancing blow expected on February 12. Effects are not expected to be severe, but will produce polar aurorae that are already getting a [...]
SOHO Spacecraft Back Online
SOHO, the Solar Heliospheric Observatory co-sponsored by NASA and ESA, is back online. The spacecraft was out of commission for just over a week. A technical problem of unknown origin derailed the observatory, prompting operators to put it in safe mode. “You safe a spacecraft if you don’t know what its status is,” Joe Gurman, a SOHO scientist from NASA [...]
Strongest Solar Storm of 2012 in Decline
On January 27, the sun released an X class coronal mass ejection (CME) from sunspot 1402, the same sunspot responsible for January 21′s M class CME. Although the latest flare caused an intial radio blackout on January 27, radiation levels have now declined to S2 (moderate) levels and no further interference is expected, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “It’s [...]
Radiation Storm In Progress
A coronal mass ejection (CME) that was originally forecast to hit Earth’s magnetic field on January 21, arrived a bit late on January 22. According to NASA scientists at the Goddard Spaceflight Center, the CME strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field, briefly exposing satellites in geosynchronous orbit atitudes and above to solar wind plasma. Ionization disturbances from the storm were recorded [...]
Coronal Mass Ejection Headed for Earth
Source: NASA A long duration M-class flare began erupting on the sun at 8:42 AM ET on Thursday, January 19. The flare is shown in the above movie from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in a combination of light wavelengths. An earth-directed coronal mass ejection was associated with the solar flare. NASA’s Space Weather Services estimates that it is traveling at [...]
Space Weather Forecasting Advances Prepare for Solar Maximum Events
A new sunspot identification method has drastically improved scientists’ ability to issue warnings for upcoming solar storms, much like meteorologists predicting thunderstorms and hurricanes. According to NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers, a period of intense solar activity is approaching, and scientists are preparing to protect Earth assets from the effects of the anticipated solar [...]
