World On Alert For Massive Solar Storm. Power grids, communications and satellites could be knocked out by a massive solar storm in the next two years, scientists warn. Experts say the sun is reaching a peak in its 10-year activity cycle, putting the Earth at greater risk from solar storms. Mike Hapgood, a space weather specialist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Didcot, Oxfordshire, said: "Governments are taking it very seriously.
These things may be very rare but when they happen, the consequences can be catastrophic. " He warned that solar storms are increasingly being put on national risk registers used for disaster planning, alongside other events like tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. There is 12% chance of a major solar storm every decade - making them a roughly one-in-100-year event. The last major storm was more than 150 years ago. The threat comes from magnetically-charged plasma thrown out by the sun in coronal mass ejections. Nasa's probe inspects surface of sun with hi-tech camera. By Rob Waugh Published: 07:44 GMT, 25 May 2012 | Updated: 09:55 GMT, 25 May 2012 Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory is an 'eye' in space focused on the sun - but its scientists have found an all-new way of looking at the star that gives our planet heat and life.
Don't be deceived by the calming blues and browns - the boiling surface of the star is around 600,000 degrees centigrade, just viewed through a wavelength that highlights the constant activity. 'There's no science behind it,' says Scott Wiesinger of Goddard Space Flight Centre, 'But it looks very pretty.' Scroll down for video Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory is an 'eye' in space focused on the sun - but its scientists have found an all-new way of looking at the star that gives our planet heat and life 'This video takes SDO images and applies additional processing to enhance the structures visible,' says a Nasa spokesperson.
The video covers 24 hours of activity on September 25, 2011. Mr. Photographer captures Venus and the Hubble telescope crossing the sun in once in a lifetime moment. By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 20:06 GMT, 10 June 2012 | Updated: 09:13 GMT, 11 June 2012 As if catching a once-in-a-lifetime view of Venus crossing the sun wasn't awesome enough, one lucky photographer managed to capture a little something extra with it. In less than a single second's time, Astrophotographer Thierry Legault's quick trigger-finger snapped NASA's Hubble telescope zipping across the sun last week, in the same moment Venus made its own trek.
In what would be the last crossing by Venus for the next 105 years, the rarity turned all eyes around the world to the sun; protective glasses, included. Quick catch: In less than a single second's time the Hubble telescope's race seen here diagonally across the sun, circled, was perfectly timed with the 105-year rarity of Venus' own, bottom left Catching: Seen as a tiny line of dots, Thierry Legault's photograph captured the telescope directly above the planet with about four easily visible here 'I'm still having fun. What's wrong with the sun? - space - 14 June 2010. Read full article Continue reading page |1|2|3 Video: Sun spots SUNSPOTS come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only for them to fade away again after a few days, weeks or months.
Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years. But for the past two years, the sunspots have mostly been missing. The sun is under scrutiny as never before thanks to an armada of space telescopes. The stakes have never been higher. . , and disputes over the sun's role in climate change, are adding urgency to these studies. Sun behaving badly Sunspots are windows into the sun's magnetic soul. When sunspot numbers drop at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all becomes much calmer. What's special about this latest dip is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. As 2009 arrived, solar physicists looked for some action. The sun's solar flares keep on getting stronger - with latest hot spot the size of 15 Earths strung together.
By Eddie Wrenn Published: 16:08 GMT, 9 July 2012 | Updated: 06:52 GMT, 10 July 2012 The sun is a tempestuous mistress - and her outbursts are becoming more and more violent as the weeks go on. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted the summer's first 'X' solar flare on Friday - a huge outburst from the sun right at the top of the scale. This came on the back of 12 'M' flares in just six days, with a M6.1 flare knocking out radio signals across the planet on Thursday - hinting at the destruction the sun could reign on our technology if Earth takes a full blast across its blow.
The sunspot group behind the flares - named as AR1515 - stretches across 118,681 miles (191,000km) of the sun's surface. This makes it's width more than 15 Earths set end to end, said NASA solar astrophysicist C. Alex Young. Scroll down for video NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory saw an active region on the sun, labeled AR1515, sent out an M5.3 class solar flare that peaked on Independence Day July 4th, 2012. Earth-Sun Distance. How Far Away is the Sun? Astronomers determined the size and shape of our galaxy and measured distances to other stars using the “parallax method” (and eventually other methods using the star’s light spectrum). Unfortunately, these methods do little to help us find out the exact distance to our very own star, the Sun.
Surprisingly, to get the distance to the sun, astronomers first had to determine the exact distance to Venus! With the invention of radar, scientists were able to measure the distance to Venus very precisely. By timing how long it took the radar beam to travel at the speed of light to Venus and back, the total distance to the object can be determined from the equation: Distance = (Speed of Light) X (Total Time)/2 The reason the total time is divided by two is to get just the distance from the Earth to the object.
Earth-Sun Distance = (Earth-Venus Distance) / (Cos q) Ref: Strobel’s Astronomy Notes, May 2001.