Big solar prominence right now

[CalliArcale]

We need something else to talk about here. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Spaceweather.com has some gorgeous amateur images of a huge solar prominence right now. It may be solar minimum, but the Sun still isn't completely boring.<br /><br />http://spaceweather.com/<br /><br />There are some interesting pictures at the SOHO site right now: SOHO near-realtime images. See if you can find the prominence on the EIT304 and then compare it to what's happening in the corona, especially on EIT195.<br /><br />The pictures are very pretty. Some of the amateur ones show a startling amount of detail. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

SOHO is still alive then.

 

[CalliArcale]

Oh yes. SOHO's mission has been extended many times. The current extension runs through 2007, so that SOHO can observe a complete 11-year solar cycle. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[siriusmre]

The thing to look for in the next few days, as this ejected prominence speeds its way to the outer reaches of the solar environment, is the effect it may have on any planets that happen to be in its path.<br /><br />Perhaps the lightning storm on Saturn is the effect of one such ejected solar prominence. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

It's not ejected; this isn't a coronal mass ejection. In a prominence, the material is merely being lifted out of the Sun. It usually goes back down again, but if it doesn't, that's when a CME occurs, and yes, it will be interesting to watch where it goes. If it's lucky enough to go towards Saturn, Cassini might pick something up when it goes by.<br /><br />Once in a rare while, a CME happens to hit one of the handful of deep space probes in the outer solar system. The data set is still quite small, as it's a matter of luck whether or not it goes in a favorable direction to be observed by one of these spacecraft, but it will continue to grow. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

Can CME cause any effect on earth?Starting from earthquake .tsunami etc.

 

[CalliArcale]

CMEs can cause geomagnetic storms, if they hit the Earth's magnetosphere. This can cause auroras, disrupt radio communications, overload electrical circuits, and increase the amount of high energy particles reaching the ground. They do not have enough power to cause earthquakes or tsunamis, but they're not totally benign. A CME in the 80s caused a massive blackout across North America, mainly in Canada, by overloading and destroying a critical piece of equipment in a power station. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[siriusmre]

There is some evidence that earthquakes are associated with sunspot activity, though:<br /><br /><font color="yellow">"Some scientists have become aware of a correlation between sunspots and Earthquakes and want to use the sunspot data to help predict earthquakes. The theory is that an intensification of the magnetic field can cause changes in the geo-sphere. <b>The NASA and the European Geosciences Union have already put their stamp of approval on the sunspot hypothesis</b>, which suggests that changes in the sun-earth environment affects the magnetic field of the earth that can trigger earthquakes in areas prone to it. It is not clear how such a trigger might work. [Emphasis added.]"</font><br />More: Sunspots and Earthquakes <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>