HUGE!! CME just went off!

So what would happen if it was headed our way?

And are there any planets/celestial bodies in its current path? It would be interesting to see if there are any effects...

reply to post by apacheman


How do you know it isn't headed this way? (Not a trick question.)

Originally posted by mossme89
I dont want to crash this thread, but how is this that surprising? Dont we see CME's of this magnitude all the time with SOHO?

i'm sure it would take tons of investigative time, or past up to date knowledge on the subject, but i have found this, it seems in 1997 a similiar event happened on the surface of the sun

Coronal Mass Ejections disrupt the flow of the solar wind and produce disturbances that strike the Earth with sometimes catastrophic results. The Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has observed a large number of CMEs. The event of April 7th, 1997 is shown to the left (click on the image for the animation). It produced a "halo event" in which the entire Sun appeared to be surrounded by the CME. Halo events are produced by CMEs that are directed toward the Earth. As they loom larger and larger they appear to envelope the Sun itself.

link

there is a picture on the site to compare

1997 moving image of event on sun
event that this thread is centered on

not exactly sure what is a 'normal' CME as this is not my natural subject to study but i have found this information

A large CME can contain 1016 grams (a billion tons) of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion.

link

i'm not sure how much matter was ejected in the 1997 event, or this event, if anyone could find that information or further elaborate what a normal CME is in relation to today's emission, that'd be cool

[edit on 5/5/2010 by indigothefish]

Originally posted by asala
What the heck would we do if it did.

LOL, count the hours you can still use the Internet? I guess the internet would be the first to get affected. It makes me realize we need to keep contact with the groups we love after an event of this would occur .

The SDO spacecraft is still in the commissioning and testing phase. In mid-May we start full-time science operations, and we'll be bringing you up-to-date movies of your Sun. Until then, we will update this page with movies and images regularly.


Well if it did, we would like to see it if not we just out of luck.

reply to post by luxordelphi

I can't swear to it, but I'm told that if it was headed straight at us we'd see flares on both sides of the sun.

I'm assuming it isn't headed our way since we see it only on one side.

That said, if it were headed our way, I'd expect massive power grid failures at the minimum. I'll take your guess as to what else might happen: most of mine would be pretty freaking grim.

New photo has been posted:

Latest SOHO:




Quick, break out the hot dogs!

reply to post by Romanian

An xray flare is not the same thing as a CME.
There have been several C class xray flares today but none at the time of the CME.

reply to post by Romanian


lol, beat me to it!

But LASCO 3 final has an image:




[edit on 5-5-2010 by apacheman]

Oh no, this means the next big earthquake to hit earth will be directly linked to this CME.

Prepare to take cover.....barrage of "Earthquakes Caused by CME" threads about to hit.

reply to post by Phage


O , thank you for explaining. I am not familiar with the classification on letters, I just believed that the intensity is increasing from A to x. need to read some materials about that

[edit on 5-5-2010 by Romanian]

Latest LASCO 2:



Latest LASCO 3:

Forgive my ignorance but is a CME a Coronal Mass Ejection or does it mean something else? It is beautiful though but looks seriously dangerous.

Someone on ATS was predicting a 9.2 quake along the US/Mexico border a few days back. here;www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 5-5-2010 by Asktheanimals]

reply to post by Asktheanimals

Yes. A CME is a coronal mass ejection. This was a good sized one (not in the extreme) but it was not directed toward the Earth. We won't feel any effects from it.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


You are correct.

CME = coronal mass ejection.

I noticed the prediction about the quake. I guess we'll see in the next few days whether there might be a correlation.

reply to post by Phage


Thanks for your edification Phage, do the planets gravity show any effect on these CMEs as to their size, shape or direction ?

reply to post by Asktheanimals

No.
A CME is an outflow of charged particles from the sun. They aren't affected much by gravity. Moving too fast and not enough mass.

On planets (and moons) with no magnetosphere the increased solar wind could drag some of the atmosphere (if there is one) off into space. On planets with magnetospheres (like Earth) the products of the CME would cause magnetic storms if they strike the planet. The products would be mostly diverted around the magnetosphere, but not really change direction.

[edit on 5/5/2010 by Phage]

Originally posted by mossme89
So what would happen if it was headed our way?

And are there any planets/celestial bodies in its current path? It would be interesting to see if there are any effects...

Great Northern Lights displays if its at a time when the days are not too long like now. FYI - the Northern Lights forecasts have been very low the last few years and sun activity way down.

In 2001 - 2002 we had wonderful displays. I'm in Alaska. The best I've ever seen was in 2001. Covered the sky, horizon to horizon. One was even seen all the way to Arizona. Way bigger than anything you folks have been looking at the last few years.

If we get hit, you also get some interference with satellite communications. Nothing serious. A hiccup here and there. The worst I've noticed is some audio and video noise and some noise on the telephone. We get warnings, none since about 2003 though. The Sun was remarkably quiet for a few years and that's why people are thinking what's happening now is significant.

People are way to fearful of these images. Great for adrenalin junkies though.

Is this connected to the coronal hole from april 30th 2010? what is the data number of frequency of ejections from the sun over the last 6 to 10 months? to see what kind of ejection this is .