Monster Waves on the Sun are Real

November 25, 2009
Sometimes you really can believe your eyes. That's what NASA's STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft are telling researchers about a controversial phenomenon on the sun known as the "solar tsunami."

A solar tsunami seen by the STEREO spacecraft from orthogonal points of view. The gray part of the animation has been contrast-enhanced by subtracting successive pairs of images, resulting in a "difference (Note: Enlarge the image at the link to see it in animation)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bd9ad98929a6.gif[/atsimg]

Years ago, when solar physicists first witnessed a towering wave of hot plasma racing along the sun's surface, they doubted their senses. The scale of the thing was staggering. It rose up higher than Earth itself and rippled out from a central point in a circular pattern millions of kilometers in circumference. Skeptical observers suggested it might be a shadow of some kind—a trick of the eye—but surely not a real wave.

"Now we know," says Joe Gurman of the Solar Physics Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Solar tsunamis are real."

www.physorg.com...

Discovered back in 1979, how do they know for sure, couldn't they be confusing this with flares.

S&F!, That's reminds me... Something I saw Dr Michio Kaku say about solar storms..

(on Faux news) He says the next major storm is 2012 but I swear I saw another interview with him where he said 2016 but for some reason I can't find it.

OOPS! double post

[edit on 28-11-2009 by Solar.Absolution]

reply to post by Solar.Absolution

No.
Kaku says the next solar maximum is in 2012.
The prediction has been greatly revised since that interview in late 2008. The solar max is now predicted to occur in May of 2013 and to be of below average activity.

reply to post by Phage


Oh ok, I thought he changed his information on the subject but wasn't sure what year or severity and now that I know I'm wrong I won't derail the topic of 'Solar tsunamis' any more than I already have.

[edit on 28-11-2009 by Solar.Absolution]

The lil animation on the source page looks like when you through a stone into a body of water. Is it possible that something huge just crashed into the sun causing the ripples?

reply to post by Topsy_Cret

They are caused by eruptions (CMEs) from the Sun.

The twin STEREO spacecraft confirmed their reality in February 2009 when sunspot 11012 unexpectedly erupted. The blast hurled a billion-ton cloud of gas (a "CME") into space and sent a tsunami racing along the sun's surface. STEREO recorded the wave from two positions separated by 90o, giving researchers an unprecedented view of the event:

Originally posted by Topsy_Cret
The lil animation on the source page looks like when you through a stone into a body of water. Is it possible that something huge just crashed into the sun causing the ripples?

Interesting you should say that, I thought the same thing when I first looked at it.

Originally posted by Phage
The solar max is now predicted to occur in May of 2013 and to be of below average activity.

Unless a cosmic dust wave from the center of the galaxy passes the sun and causes CME that could by quite critical for surrounding planets. Not to mention the dust wave itself hitting earth.

[edit on 28-11-2009 by thegreatobserver]

reply to post by thegreatobserver


Yeah, that might be bad.

Thanks for the info Phage, I must have missed that part in the article.

Great minds think alike Aquarius

Yeah there real and there could a Solar Storm coming within the next 5 years