06-11-2003 11:54									#1
	Here comes the sun...with a box of Shake N' Bake Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Sun produces monster solar flare The largest ever flare glares from the Sun's limb The Sun has unleashed its largest recorded solar flare, capping 10 days of unprecedented activity for the star. The blast sent billions of tonnes of superhot gas into space - some of it directed towards our planet. Scientists say the Sun's current spate of activity has produced the most dramatic events seen on the solar surface since regular monitoring began. Space weather forecasters have been kept busy tracking the impact of geomagnetic storms on the Earth. Huge energy Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. There was an X8 and an X3 event on Sunday. Click here to see how solar explosions affect Earth Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. There was an X8 and an X3 event on Sunday. And on Monday, there was an X3 flare followed by smaller ones. The gas cloud starts on its way Last week there were X7 and X10 events that took place back-to-back. Tuesday's flare went off the scale; researchers say it was "well above X20". A precise description is difficult because some monitoring satellites were briefly blinded the scale of the event. Even so, experts say the Tuesday event must have been the most powerful ever recorded, surpassing the X20 flares of 2 April 2001 and 16 August 1989. The major flares have come from sunspot region 486, now officially the most active solar region in recorded solar observational history. Because 486 is close to the Sun's western limb, the blast was not directed straight towards the Earth. Buffeted Earth Nevertheless, our planet's magnetic sheath may still be hit by clouds of charged particles in the next 24 or 48 hours and could give rise to geomagnetic storms. Skywatchers have been told to be on alert for spectacular aurorae in darkened skies. These dancing polar lights are generated when fast-moving particles (electrons and protons) ejected from the Sun get trapped in the magnetic field around the Earth, and collide with the gases in the upper atmosphere. Some orbiting satellites could be in the firing line, too. The mass of electrons contained in these surges can damage onboard microchips. Operations may need to be temporarily suspended to protect sensitive equipment. And high energy radiation hitting our atmosphere could also interrupt short-wave radio transmissions and cause errors in navigation systems. Dr Paal Brekke, deputy project scientist for the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (Soho) Sun-monitoring satellite, told BBC News Online: "I think the last week will go into the history books as one of the most dramatic solar activity periods we have seen in modern times."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3242353.stm

	06-11-2003 12:12									#2
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old news isnt it?

	06-11-2003 12:14									#3
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

wutang!. wait. it's cloudy out. sometimes i can go up to lake placid and see aurorae.

	06-11-2003 12:32									#4
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From other stories I've read, the only serious effect is likely to be a massive disruption of mobile phone service. Thank you, Mr. Sun.

	06-11-2003 12:44									#5
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quote: Originally posted by Space05us old news isnt it?

Only in that it's been ongoing for over a week now.

This flare is new.

	06-11-2003 12:48									#6
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Shake N' Bake?

	06-11-2003 12:52									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

You live in America, right? Shake N' Bake.

	06-11-2003 13:29									#8
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i could go for some shake and bake right now... that chinese i had went right through me.

	06-11-2003 21:24									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

With the sun's rotation, that area does point our way regularly -- I wonder how bad it would have been with better timing...

	06-11-2003 22:38									#10
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We can't be mad at the sun - its no use.

perhaps you can channel a message through Rah to communicate to El Sol.

	06-11-2003 22:43									#11
	Got spare money?

I use to go to this message board which tracked and discussed web cams that were place as to try and catch ghosts... It was rather interesting, but it was even more fun to annoy them by being a sceptic and calling them all "kooks"... Anyway, they believed that solar flares called increase haunting activity... Just a comment... Break out your EKGs and call Egon, it's goin' to get hot in here

	06-11-2003 23:25									#12
	Increase Your PM Length

Who are you goin' call -- GHOSTBUSTERS!!!