SUN - Wakey Wakey, Rise and Shine!

Hi all,

Today, our Sun is showing signs of awakening from his long, long lull. Have a look at this picture from SpaceWeather.com

[img][/img]

With no fewer than 5 active regions, we finally have something decent to watch, at least for now!

Who knows if this will be the start of the Road to the Solar Maximum of Mid 2013, but it's certainly looking like activity is increasing with a few Sunspots in the last couple of weeks coming and going.

Each circle contains a sunspot or proto-sunspot belonging to new Solar Cycle 24. After two years of record-low sunspot numbers and many month-long stretches of utter quiet, this is a notable outbreak

Keep a watch on Space Weathers website for updates.

G.

Coincidence that Dec 21 seems to be around the awakening time. 3 years to galactic alignement,

Star and flag for making me laugh when i saw the title of the thread.

woohoo!!

excellent!!

and 1 day after Solstice!! thanks!!

I don't know what the date is of that photo...however I think sun is still napping...I just got the latest photo and this is it:

i997.photobucket.com...

The photo you posted is in the extreme ultraviolet spectrum and does not show actual sunspots, only disturbed areas.

The solar wind is still very low.. along with the magnetic flux. The shield is still down we are being bombarded by cosmic rays that cause clouds and cooling....hopefully it will change before mass extinctions start.

[edit on 22-12-2009 by expat2368]

Originally posted by expat2368
I don't know what the date is of that photo...however I think sun is still napping...I just got the latest photo and this is it:

i997.photobucket.com...

Space Weather

Go there, it shows the same photo as the OP....

reply to post by expat2368


Well i'm not sure of the source of your photo but the photo in the OP is from spaceweather (a very reputable source by the way).

Where i agree that the photo was taken in the ultraviolet spectrum, it still shows areas of unstability, two of which are official sunspots.

Spaceweathers MDI Continuum image of the sun showing sunspots clearly shows two.

Being an avid 'watcher' of the suns activity, i can assure you that this is some of the most activity seen in over two years and warrants the claim of an 'awakening' however slight or indeed brief if that turns out to be all it is.

Regards

Edit for poor spelling and use of terminology!
[edit on 22/12/09 by logicalview]

[edit on 22/12/09 by logicalview]

[edit on 22/12/09 by logicalview]

reply to post by logicalview

The magnetogram is also an important indication.

reply to post by Phage


"The magnetogram is also an important indication."

Phage - could you give a short explanation of the importance of the magnetogram?

Thanks!

I remember a show that was on television, I'm not sure if it was on the History channel or science channel, but I believe it was called Megadisasters and one of the episodes was about Solar Flares. In the episode they had scientists stating that in 2010, I thing July 2010, that there would be a Solar Storm that would knock all power out in America, would cause Aurora Borealis in Paris and other places, they said it would take years to come out of that and it would level our economy. These were scientists saying that, so what happened that they are no longer talking about it? And does anyone else remember this episode or have it on a youtube video or something?

reply to post by Phage


Thanks for the reminder Phage. Always better to observe all the different available types of images of the sun before making any kind of assessment of its activity.

reply to post by Julie Washington

Most of the activity on the Sun is closely related to its magnetic field. Unlike Earth, the Sun's magnetic field can be rather chaotic.

The magnetogram shows areas of magnetic polarity on the Sun's surface. Black shows "south" poles and white shows "north". When we see more poles it indicates that the surface is more active. When north and south are close together it is a very good indication of sunspot formation and solar eruptions.

Here it is when it is very quiet.



[edit on 12/22/2009 by Phage]

reply to post by Phage


Good to see you're out and about, Phage.
Seems like the solar activity is ramping up. Just like the predictions...

There's a theory that if the sun emits a large enough flare, the earths magnetosphere will be destroyed leaving it immune to the rays of the sun.
And flipping the N/S poles.
Another doom and gloom theory. But, it could be right.
And, it would cause massive destruction.

reply to post by havok

Another doom and gloom theory based on nothing.

A solar flare cannot destroy the magnetosphere or flip Earth's magnetic poles. It can, however, cause problems with our electrical distribution systems and communications.

The magnetosphere does very little to protect us from solar radiation. That job is done mostly by our atmosphere.

Originally posted by havok
reply to post by Phage

 

Good to see you're out and about, Phage.
Seems like the solar activity is ramping up. Just like the predictions...

There's a theory that if the sun emits a large enough flare, the earths magnetosphere will be destroyed leaving it immune to the rays of the sun.
And flipping the N/S poles.
Another doom and gloom theory. But, it could be right.
And, it would cause massive destruction.

Phage is way more knowledgeable than me, so if he says I'm wrong, I'll delete my post. But I believe the theory is that due to the DECREASING strength of our magnetosphere it leaves us vulnerable to a strong flare that would then be able to penetrate our atmosphere and reach Earth.

It's the concern over the waning strength and its ability to protect us -- and not that the flare itself would "destroy" it.

reply to post by Phage


Which is exactly why I hate doom and gloom theories.

If our N/S poles did flip...(the remote possibility)
One would think that all the electricity on the planet would reverse polarity too. All negatives would be positive, etc.

I am thinking all too much about this.

The original image I posted was for everyone to see the current rise in activity on the Sun, and I thought it was an impressive picture showing this.

Its definatley a ramp up in activity, and it will be interesting over the next wee while to see if this is the start of a longer period of activity.

Thanks Phage for the Information about the Magnetogram. I must say, you have really good knowledge of this subject, and I'm always learning when you contribute. Cheers!

g.

SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES: 2009 is ending with a flurry of sunspots. The latest is sunspot 1039, which formed yesterday and is now crackling with low-level solar flares

www.spaceweather.com...

good to see yet another sunspot. Looks like things are slowly ramping up after all.