SOLAR WATCH * Huge X8.2 Flare Sept. 10, 2017! (Updated Daily)

Spotless Sun

[link to i1245.photobucket.com]

According to two recent memos obtained by SpaceNews, the Air Force will shut down the aging Air Force Space Surveillance System, also known informally as the Space Fence, Sept. 1.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force's decision to shut down a key component of its Space Surveillance Network will weaken the service's ability to accurately detect and characterize objects in Earth orbit, experts say.

[link to www.space.com]

My unofficial sunspot number is now 006, may be 000 when I check in the morning.

Nice Big Coronal Hole-
:9/9-coronal-hole:

Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks, sounds.

Don't despair, GOLIKEAPRO, after the poles flip we should see even more activity on the downslope of Cycle 24 than we saw on the upslope. Sol may be saving his ammo for Comet ISON which is slated to graze the corona in about 2 1/2 months. By the way, here's a good amateur site at the forefront of tracking Comet ISON:

[link to brucegary.net]

And NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign homepage (lots of good info):

[link to www.isoncampaign.org]

How exactly will we know when the poles flip? Is there an indicator of some sort?

What happens during a reversal? What do we see at the Earth's surface?

As above, we have limited evidence from geological measurements about the patterns of change in the magnetic field during a reversal. We might expect to see, based on models of the field run on supercomputers, a far more complicated field pattern at the Earth's surface, with perhaps more than one North and South pole at any given time. We might also see the poles 'wandering' with time from their current positions towards and across the equator. The overall strength of the field, anywhere on the Earth, may be no more than a tenth of its strength now.

[link to www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk]
Sun Poles
Passing through more often could cause more turbulent space weather, potentially leading to disruptions in satellite transmissions and telecommunications equipment. On the other hand, the current sheet also blocks high-energy cosmic rays that arrive from other areas of the galaxy, so a more wavy sheet could provide satellites and astronauts in space more robust protection from harmful radiation.

Additionally, the magnetic field reversal coincides with the maximum of other solar activity, which means a greater number of sunspots, more powerful solar flares, brighter aurorae and more frequent coronal mass ejections. Most of these events have little or no effect on Earth, but an especially powerful flare or plasma ejection aimed in the right direction could knock out Earth-based telecommunications systems. At the same time, this solar cycle has been especially weak—NASA solar physicist David Hathaway called it “wimpy” in an interview with Scientific American—so there’s not a ton to worry about with this particular reversal.

[link to blogs.smithsonianmag.com]


some down time reading wishing everyone a great day

Mtn
I hope that your friend continues to improve.

Interstellar winds buffeting our solar system have shifted direction
Scientists, including University of New Hampshire astrophysicists involved in NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, have discovered that the particles streaming into the solar system from interstellar space have likely changed direction over the last 40 years.
The finding helps scientists map our location within the Milky Way galaxy and is crucial for understanding our place in the cosmos through the vast sweep of time-where we've come from, where we're currently located, and where we're going in our journey through the galaxy.
The full article is here: [link to www.spacedaily.com]

[link to sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov] I remember NiN saying that you can watch sunspots for the change, currently southern hemisphere sunspots are black on the left and white on the right, and northern hemisphere sunspots are white on the left and black on the right. Those alignments will reverse once the poles change.

[link to www.leif.org] This chart (that I'm sure you're already aware of) does give an idea of what's going on but it relays information much slower than looking at the Sun directly, and it isn't the easiest chart to read. Basically when the lines cross over for good and stop changing polarities every measurement period, you'll know the poles have reversed.

Last Edited by madajs. on 09/10/2013 07:12 PM

Pretty much exactly the words I would of used. And I do find it amusing that the Sun seems to be holding it's breath for Comet ISON.

Interesting video from SO:
The Cosmic Ray Factor of a Solar Magnetic Shutdown & Sep.10.2013 Solar Update
[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Magnetosphere is really crazy looking...

Earthquake time?


[link to ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov]

good catch.

Very helpful reminder madj, especially as we get closer. I wrote it down for future reference.

Well I hope I paraphrased NiN correctly then :) hopefully she can drop by soon and verify that for us

Cheers

Last Edited by madajs. on 09/11/2013 01:38 AM

:kaydoom:

Two new regions coming in close to the equator. Will they stay alive or fizzle out?



[link to solarham.net]

[link to stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov]

oh my. Is this earth directed???

looks kinda south, but I am by no means an expert. or even amateur

Solar Weather
Catania sunspot groups
[link to sidc.oma.be]
Latest
[link to sidc.oma.be]

Good morning/afternoon team. I've got a bunch of karma points I need to dole out and catch up with. Haven't been on a computer for a while and it won't let me green anybody on my mobile. Just know, I haven't forgotten about anybody nor have i forgotten the kind words received.

peace and love,
mtn mang

Solar Max

Too far south.

That's what I 'm thinking, or better word, hoping for!

Baseball-sized meteor blows up over Alabama – creates sonic boom

Posted on September 11, 2013 by The Extinction Protocol
September 11, 2013 – ALABAMA – A baseball-sized meteor blasted over the southeastern United States on Monday night, creating a bright streak of light, a sonic boom and a ruckus on Twitter, officials said on Tuesday. The meteor appeared at 9:18 p.m. EDT over Alabama, traveling at about 76,000 mph. It exploded 25 miles above Woodstock, Alabama, located about 30 miles from Birmingham. “Objects of this size hit the Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis, but this one happened near Birmingham, which is a fairly decently sized city and lot of people saw it,” Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told Reuters. Many of the more than 180 eyewitness reports came from people attending a Mumford & Sons concert in Birmingham. “This one wasn’t at 2 in the morning, so a lot of people were out and about,” Cooke said. “I saw what I first thought was a falling star and then it turned bright green,” an observer from Anniston, Alabama, posted on the American Meteor Society website. “I saw it near Dallas Highway in Marietta, (Georgia), near the National Battlefield,” wrote another witness. “At first, I thought it was an errant firework, but it was bigger, neon green, came straight down and then disappeared.” Scientists calculated the meteor’s orbit and determined that it came from an unknown comet. It exploded so low in Earth’s atmosphere that it triggered a sonic boom. The meteor was too bright to be picked up by NASA’s All-sky Fireball Network, which tracks meteors brighter than Venus with 12 cameras in the eastern United States and New Mexico but whose parameters are set to screen out things like lightning. The network did detect nearly two dozen other meteors on Monday night, including five that are part of the little-known annual Epsilon Perseids meteor shower, which peaks in early- to mid-September. Sky watchers also are on the lookout for Comet ISON, which is due to pass by Mars this month and by Earth in November. The comet, which was discovered last September by a pair of amateur astronomers in Russia, is expected to pass relatively close to the sun on November 28. As it approaches, heat from the sun vaporizes ice in the comet’s body, creating a bright tail. But so far, Comet ISON hasn’t brightened as much as astronomers had predicted. “People are no longer thinking it is going to be visible in daylight,” Cooke said. – Yahoo [link to theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com]

I just looked again at the JPL for Comet ISON, what a fascinating event that's going to be. When you look at the trajectory, seeing the comet about to buzz Mars in October and then do a hairpin around the Sun, you just wonder what the effects may be.

I somehow wouldn't be surprised if this comet disturbs the Sun quite a bit. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

[link to www.space.com] (reposting an old article!)

From the SDO blog site:
Stationkeeping Burn Today
Today at 2200 UTC (6 pm ET) SDO will execute a stationkeeping burn. This 2.4 second firing of four thrusters keeps SDO within its longitude limits of its assigned geosynchronous orbit. Science data will be unavailable for about an hour to allow the spacecraft to prepare for the burn, fire the thrusters, and recover from the burn.
The full article is here: [link to sdoisgo.blogspot.com]