Monster Solar Filament on the Sun

I figured I would start a new thread on this, since the recent thread Enormous Ring is Developing on the Sun! only discussed the formation of a ring on the surface on the sun and nothing really about the actual filament.

Plus it has strayed way off topic.

So, as I say, this thread is about the actual filament that is stretching across the sun at the moment.

A filament, or prominence is a region of dense, cool gas that extend out into the suns corona, they are also linked to magnetic field lines on the sun.

When we look at them face on, they appear darker because they are much cooler than the surrounding areas on the sun, alternatively when we look at them side on, with deep space as the back drop, they appear much brighter.

Currently, the large one that can be seen on the sun right now is estimated to be 400,000km long and could possibly be the largest recorded in history, the previous being 350,000km long, this was recorded in 1997 by SOHO.

It is also currently facing earth and if it collapses or erupts it will send a coronal mass ejection (CME) in our direction.

Nothing to worry about there as we are bombarded quite often with CME's and solar winds, in fact there is a stream of solar wind heading our way now which came from the coronal hole currently visible on the suns surface.

To close out the thread here are a few pictures taken by backyard sun watchers with solar telescopes:












Sources:

en.wikipedia.org...
solar.physics.montana.edu...
www.universetoday.com...
spaceweather.com...

reply to post by Chadwickus

Nothing to worry about there as we are bombarded quite often with CME's and solar winds

I find it hard to believe the largest recorded filament on the Sun wouldn't release a moderately dangerous (capable of taking out power grids) CME if it collapsed/erupted whilst directly facing Earth.

reply to post by CHA0S


The filament itself isn't the threat but they can create things such as Hyder flares.

www.ips.gov.au...

Worth keeping an eye on at least.

reply to post by Chadwickus


For how much longer will it be facing earth? Will it turn away from us in a day or two?

If so, then when would it next be facing the earth?

Any ideas?

thanks chad. i can sleep easy knowing there is still hope that the sun will destroy the planet. my hopes were dashed earlier today when it was revealed to me that the ring that was forming decided to not play ball and turn in a CME the likes nobody had ever witnessed and blow us all away. heres hoping *crosses fingers*

reply to post by CHA0S


It would depend on how capable the utilities are for geomagnetic interferance, utility companies have been warned and know the risk they can take measures to avoid a collapse of the grid with appropriate warning before hand., hence why we have SOHO. Same goes for satellites, I don't know how the shoddy built US satelites may hold up but the ESA ones are capable to manage the problem.
Seriously just hope for some great auroras, hopefully ones that go as far south as possible.
That should freak this place out good and proper.


For me this is what concerns me most.

Did you know a solar flare can make your toilet stop working?

science.nasa.gov...

After all it is curry week.

reply to post by Chadwickus


great pic's there chadwicks, and its about time i added
you as a friend as you post most awesome stuff.

where has the friend feature gone?

probably the safest spot for the filament to collapse is when its facing Earth...

because as the Sun rotates the resulting CME would be flung off at a trajectory
that would miss Earth by magnitudes of Earth-Moon distances

besides the CME just isn't going to travel at the speed of light....
it will take a day or even days to travel the 93 million miles,
even at a slow million miles per hour



i read in some article, probably a half-past-human.com tutorial
that our Sun has to enter a period of activity that will
un-do or unravel the magnetic torsion fields it has created over
some number of periods of the 11 year sunspot cycles...

it seems that the whole heliosphere that the Sun reigns over
gets its magnetic fields so twisted that the solar systems
magnetic background has to snap!... we might just be seeing
this process at its beginnings

reply to post by stealthyaroura


Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words!

Click the members drop down menu under avatar, the friend thing is in there.

reply to post by rajaten


It will be visible for a few more days yet, I couldn't say exactly how long because different parts of the sun rotate at different rates, for example the equator makes a full rotation in 27 (earth) days and the poles do it in around 30.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
Currently, the large one that can be seen on the sun right now is estimated to be 400,000km long and could possibly be the largest recorded in history, the previous being 350,000km long [...]

It is also currently facing earth and if it collapses or erupts it will send a coronal mass ejection (CME) in our direction.

Nothing to worry about there as we are bombarded quite often with CME's and solar winds

1.) Largest solar filament in recorded history
2.) Facing earth
3.) Could send CMEs
4.) Nothing to worry about

Nothing to worry about? Are the size of CMEs not directly proportional with the size of the filament from which they originate? My way of thinking is that there is a very real possibility that at a minimum power distribution could be affected.

Impact of a CME

When the ejection reaches the Earth as an ICME (Interplanetary CME), it may disrupt the Earth's magnetosphere, compressing it on the day side and extending the night-side magnetic tail. When the magnetosphere reconnects on the nightside, it creates trillions of watts of power which is directed back toward the Earth's upper atmosphere. This process can cause particularly strong aurora also known as the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis (in the Northern Hemisphere), and the Southern Lights, or aurora australis (in the Southern Hemisphere). CME events, along with solar flares, can disrupt radio transmissions, cause power outages (blackouts), and cause damage to satellites and electrical transmission lines.

Well there have been quite a few filament's as of late but nothing bad came from them i was of the thinking these filament's where rare but we have had lots of them

Thanks

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Correct, nothing to worry about at all.

Did you know we had 2 M class flares from sunspot 1112 over the weekend?

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Not to mention that there is no gaurantee that the filament will produce any type of flare at all, hyder or otherwise. It may simply just disappear back into the sun.
And lets suppose something extra ordinary was to occur would it not be better to face minor enforced power shortages than to have the whole grid go down catastrophically?
The only reason any major damage would be done is human error, not reacting quick enough or at all.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

 

Correct, nothing to worry about at all.

Did you know we had 2 M class flares from sunspot 1112 over the weekend?

No, I was not aware. What is a 2 M class flare? I guess you are trying to answer my question of whether the size of a CME is proportional to the size of the filament, but my limited knowledge of the subject is getting in the way. I'm assuming you are telling me that they are not proportional.

Originally posted by pazcat
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

 

And lets suppose something extra ordinary was to occur would it not be better to face minor enforced power shortages than to have the whole grid go down catastrophically?
The only reason any major damage would be done is human error, not reacting quick enough or at all.

I don't get what you're saying here. If something extraordinary happened, then couldn't there be TWO possibilities? One being that the event was sufficiently minor as to avert a catastrophic grid failure and the other that it was sufficiently major as to not be able to?

I just don't see that there isn't even a possibility that major damage could be done to the grid outside of human control. But, I can see how people could think it.. we humans (me included) really do like to believe that we are in total control of things.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


I don't believe that enough is known about the formation of CMEs to be able to answer your question correctly, more is known about the after effects than the causes. As mentioned a filament is not really a predictable thing and anything could happen or more likely nothing can happen.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


What I am saying is we will have warning if an event was to occur, as humans we can control the powergrid and basically switch it off or run at low voltages, same goes for satelites. So it would be human error if we did not do these things. Some minor disturbances while we are trying to manage the problem instead of total shut down.
We aren't helpless.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Ok, to paint a picture of worst case scenario I will direct you to this thread:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And to learn more about solar flares I will direct you to NASA:

hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov...

And spaceweather has links to good info as well.

Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

Hope this helps.

The filament has already rotated to the point where, even if it does produce a CME, it will not be Earth directed.


Oh, there was a single M2.9 flare on Saturday.