Heliopolis

Palomar · 2004-10-28 05:43:40

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/s … l]Sunspots more common in last 7 decades...

*...than at any time in our previous 8,000 years.

Mentions the tree record, Maunder Minimum, cycles' ebbing and flowing.

But a firm connection between sunspot numbers and climate remains elusive, many scientists say.
Solanki's team calculates that, based on history, the chances of sunspot activity remaining at the currently high levels for another 50 years is 8 percent. Odds are just 1 percent the solar exuberance will last through the end of this century.

*'Spot count today is 150.

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030707.html]At the Edge of the Sun

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-28 07:39:20

Nice link! Thanks, Cindy.
If you click on the word "suggested", you get an even more interesting article, IMO, which was written about 18 months ago.
I remember reading about the possible connection between sunspot activity and global temperature over the past 800 years or so but the idea faded from view, until this new article appeared.
At the risk of being burned at the stake as a climate heretic (a risk I've taken before), it seems much more likely that the 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in average global temperature since 1880 is due to increases in solar output, rather than the 30% rise in CO2 in our atmosphere. There are even reasons to doubt that the measured rise in temperature over that period represents a real increase; it may be an artifact of the way in which the data are gathered. (Uh-oh! I think I can hear people gathering kindling again! )

There are powerful lobby groups out there which aren't interested in hearing any alternative explanations for global warming (- if it is a real effect, and not everyone thinks it is). Industrial capitalism is, in their view, the ideal place to rest the blame; it meshes perfectly with their politics.

Do you smell smoke? What's that crackling popping noise? I think it's time for me to go.
:;):

Palomar · 2004-10-28 11:39:16

http://www.universetoday.com/am/uploads … ll.jpg]Put your on

*Is that awesome or what? That's quite a light bridge; wonder how long it is. Was a photo featured at a similar article to the one posted by me earlier today with no information pertaining to the photo itself given (measurements, dates, etc).

-*-

Shaun: I see your points, overall. I do think, though, that it's better to be a bit on the safe side at least than sorry. Smarter controls on pollution without compromising progress or unfairly/unnecessarily penalizing technology is possible I'm sure. Could be win-win (trouble is, yes -- it's a political issue and therefore basically polarized). But I don't wish to get off-topic too far.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-28 17:13:56

Helluva picture! :up:
I suppose we could drop the Moon into one of those 'black holes'.

[Yes, the global warming thing was veering a little off-topic, I agree. I just hate to see the scientific method being usurped for political purposes, that's all. Science is too important to me - and to you, too, I know.
End of digression. Back to the facts. ]

Palomar · 2004-10-30 07:11:22

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article … .asp]Meade to acquire Coronado Technology Group

*Solar astronomy. Hydrogen-alpha filters, solar telescopes (PST) for less than $500. I found this in my Sky & Telescope e-bulletin.

Great news, because I'm shopping around for some solar-observing stuff (direct observation instead of the solar screen attachment I currently have for my telescope).

--Cindy

John Creighton · 2004-10-30 11:28:56

"Sunlight falling on Earth at perihelion is 3.5% stronger than the year-long average." Break out the suntan lotion!

Is that on mars or earth?

Palomar · 2004-11-02 08:46:28

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/s … 0.html]Key found as to why Sun's magnetic poles flip

*Gee whiz, I could have sworn I'd posted this previously but I scanned the entire thread. :-\ Maybe me olde eyeballs be playing tricks on me, but apparently I haven't posted this yet (article is nearly 1 year old, how could I have missed it??).

Anyway --

Magnetic poles flip every 11 years. They think CMEs (which "tend to be most common during a period of maximum solar activity, the peak in a known 11-year cycle") might play an important role. Compare Sol to a snake shedding its skin...

CMEs are like brooms, sweeping away untidy magnetic fields created by sunspots...The research affirmed a direct connection between the number of sunspots and the number of CMEs, which often emanate from the spots. Importantly, though, a large number of CMEs originate near the solar poles where there are no sunspots.

-*-

If you liked the Oct. 10 "Sunspot loops in ultraviolet" pic,
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001115.html]check this one out (Coronal Rain, Solar Storm). :up:

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-11-02 09:26:58

I think this was about the same time as the solar flare that crippled the japanese probe to mars. I sort of was discused under the Can Mars say terraformed? thread as for why the atmosphere of mars not being retained due to mars lower gravity levels and chances for such fearsome storms to have occured in the past. That storm if I recall even punched a hole into our planets protective field.

Shaun Barrett · 2004-11-03 00:27:09

That "Coronal Rain, Solar Storm" picture is amazingly detailed.
I think I've touched on this before but it still amazes me how constant the Sun looks from here, without visual aids. It's only when you see it in shots like this one that you're reminded of the titanic struggle which goes on there between the powerful gravitational field and the furious energy of thermonuclear reactions.
It's really beyond our comprehension - or at least it's beyond mine!

Palomar · 2004-11-06 20:58:38

That "Coronal Rain, Solar Storm" picture is amazingly detailed.
I think I've touched on this before but it still amazes me how constant the Sun looks from here, without visual aids. It's only when you see it in shots like this one that you're reminded of the titanic struggle which goes on there between the powerful gravitational field and the furious energy of thermonuclear reactions.
It's really beyond our comprehension - or at least it's beyond mine!

*Yeah, it really is mind-boggling. I'm still working my way through my _Encyclopedia of the Sun_. So much yet to discover and learn (for me AND the professionals too -- ha ha).

There are 2 enormous sunspots currently: 693 and 696. The latter has sparked 9 M-class solar flares since Nov. 3, and there's been a couple of CMEs:

November 4 coronal mass ejection:

-*-

November 6 CME; its energies should reach us by Nov. 8.

--Cindy :up:

Shaun Barrett · 2004-11-06 21:43:53

If the Sun is blowing out all this matter in CMEs so regularly, presumably over billions of years, I wonder if it makes any appreciable difference to its mass?
Since a star's mass is related to its power output, is this small but steady mass reduction likely to have any retarding effect on our Sun's gradually increasing heat and brightness?
Just musing.
???

DonPanic · 2004-11-07 02:37:41

LO
If Sun looses mass, size of planetary orbits should increase, no ?

Palomar · 2004-11-08 08:55:43

Shaun: If the Sun is blowing out all this matter in CMEs so regularly, presumably over billions of years, I wonder if it makes any appreciable difference to its mass?
Since a star's mass is related to its power output, is this small but steady mass reduction likely to have any retarding effect on our Sun's gradually increasing heat and brightness?
Just musing.

*Based on my reading...it doesn't seem so. Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Sun says: "The release of a CME appears to be one way that the solar atmosphere reconfigures itself in response to slow magnetic changes." Take it for what it's worth, but my understanding (-ahem-) is that CME's are the process by which "the Sun sheds its skin like a snake." Also (based on my admittedly limited, amateur knowledge) the Sun replenishes itself. It's not losing mass. And of course I can and will stand corrected on that if wrong. :-\

DonPanic: If Sun looses mass, size of planetary orbits should increase, no ?

*Already answered (or tried to...ermmmm) about possible loss of solar mass. As for the size of planetary orbits increasing... ??? I'd not thought of that before. I doubt it, but of course don't know. Solar energies have been proven to move asteroids around, but of course they're not planets (more mass, weight, etc.).

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-11-09 07:21:34

Cindy: "..the Sun replenishes itself. It's not losing mass."

Outside of the context of this question, there is a mass reduction which takes place during the fusion of hydrogen into helium. It's this mass reduction which provides the Sun's energy. But I know that's not what you were referring to.
When you said the Sun is replenishing itself, I immediately thought of the movement of our solar system through galactic space (hadn't thought of it before). Such a deep gravitational well, passing through all that interstellar dust and gas, would probably pull in a significant amount of matter. Enough, perhaps, to make up for the mass lost in the CMEs (?). ???
Just more rumination on my part.

SpaceNut · 2004-11-09 07:48:08

What are the streaks that show up a few seconds in an orbital plane around the sun after each explosion. Are these real peices of the sun being ejected?

Palomar · 2004-11-10 06:39:49

What are the streaks that show up a few seconds in an orbital plane around the sun after each explosion. Are these real peices of the sun being ejected?

*SpaceNut: Not sure; spaceweather.com doesn't comment on those streaks. Maybe artifact? There are lots of Sun-grazing comets, but I'm unsure of their relative speed (the time-lapse of the CME "movies" varies; some are less than 4 hours in length).

*Yet another CME (its energies are headed our way); Sunspot 696 is again the culprit:

*Sunspot 696 has also sparked a couple more major solar flares..."an M8-flare at 1715 UT on Nov. 9th and an X2-flare at 0300 UT on Nov. 10th."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-10 12:30:25

*Oh my goodness! There were two CMEs within a 12-hour timeframe! The one from the 9th in the post above this one, then:

Yet another on the 10th (spaceweather.com posted this one to their web site hours *after* my post above):

Note the closeness in time: The Nov 9th CME ended at 20:42 hours...the Nov 10th CME started just a few hours later at 02:18 (? -- or is that 02:15? The numbers roll so fast, I'm not exactly sure) hours. WOW.

That's the closest between two CME's I've yet seen. :band:

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-11 06:38:53

*Here's http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gall … e7.htm]the results of the recent CME's and solar flares. :up: As far south as I live, I can only enjoy the end results via photo.

Sunspot 696 is soon to "disappear" from our view over the solar limb, so any additional activity from it won't be pointed our way. What an ornery "little" bugger it's been. :;):

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-11-11 08:25:42

I think this is also a resulting image from the solar flares as well.

Palomar · 2004-11-12 07:42:35

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … omparisons with the Sun

*As this article mentions our Sun throughout (in comparison and otherwise), I thought I'd put this here (rather than New Discoveries *4*). Is an x-ray portrait of Proxima Centauri, our nearest stellar neighbor, obtained by Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Is a red dwarf star (the most common type of star), which converts its hydrogen to helium much more slowly than Sol; this creates a constant state of turmoil on Proxima Centauri with nearly continual solar flares. :-\ It has 1/10th the mass of Sol and though dimmer (because it is a red dwarf), its life span will be considerably longer: Whereas Sol's life expectancy is 10 billion years, PC and stars like it can shine for trillions of years.

And I'm recalling all the times Shaun has pointed out our good fortune in having a rather stable, predictable star like Sol.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-20 07:13:32

http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/]Flare Surge

*The recent would-be CME. If the animation doesn't work on this page, go to http://www.spaceweather.com]http://www.spaceweather.com for today's date (the site is archived daily). Can see the animation there. I wanted to bring that image here and post it with the Image feature, but clicking on it takes me to the web page in the link above. :-\ Oh well.

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970411.html]The Sun Puffs

:laugh: Just when I think Astropix couldn't possibly have something related to the Sun which I haven't seen. Is an old image from 1997.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-24 13:24:07

(I saved the best for last)

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2004/2 … g]Enormous filament

*Is approximately as long as Earth to Moon distance. Sunspot activity low lately, but of course there's always something going on. Pic hosted at spaceweather.com for today's date.

Filaments are magnetic tubes filled with relatively cool, dense gas suspended above the surface of the Sun. This one stretches more than 250,000 miles from end to end, about the same as the distance between Earth and the Moon.

-*-

Slinky]http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/loops_eit171.jpg]"Slinky loops"

*Just in time for the holidays...Sol in Blue. Is SOHO's current "pic of the week" so have to do some splicing between pic and the accompanying caption:

When the areas above solar active regions are seen in profile in ultraviolet light, quite often we can observe a series of looping structures arcing over it. Such was the case on November 22, 2004. The distinct loops on the left side look something like a slinky that is being held together on one side near the Sun's surface and allowed to expand in a series of tangled broadening arches above that. The loop on the right appears to have one stronger loop with other less distinct ones around it. What we are actually observing are electrically charged particles spiraling around elongated magnetic field lines that have emerged from below the Sun and arc back into it, mute testimony to the magnetic forces that control the activity on the Sun's surface. The temperature of the plasma shown is about 1 million K.

-*-

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickofth … t2004/]Sun Devil :up:

*Got to see it. Click on one of the 4 movie versions available. And the shimmering and movement of the Sun along with it. This made my day.

--Cindy

P.S.: I couldn't get any of the versions to play for me the other day, but managed to get one dowloaded and playing today. Go figure.

Palomar · 2004-11-27 16:56:55

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990316.html]Sigmoids

*Honest to goodness...just when I think I've found every article pertaining to Sol at Astropix (and not a repeat of previous info), here comes another one. (Guess Santa thinks I've been a good girl this year. ) The link in the article underscored as "S-shaped region called a sigmoid" is good additional reading; partial quote below:

"Each sigmoid is like a loaded gun that we now know has a high probability of going off."
"The S-shaped regions are the dangerous ones," said Dr. Richard Canfield, a research professor of physics at Montana State University-Bozeman, and lead author on a paper to be published in the March 15 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. "As soon as we can recognize an S-shaped region, we know that it is more likely to erupt. Other common structures look like a butterfly, quite symmetric, and these rarely erupt."

-*-

{Be sure to check out the link to the Sun Devil in the post above this one -- you haven't lived if you haven't seen it}

-*-

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickofth … ]Full-Halo CME

*Includes movies as well as images. Halo CMEs are infrequent.

--Cindy

...but tomorrow may rain so I'll follow the Sun...

Shaun Barrett · 2004-11-27 19:45:12

Groovy movies! :up:

John Creighton · 2004-11-28 21:09:45

I think this is also a resulting image from the solar flares as well.

I am sure we all hear this one before:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/ … 4.html]The cremation of Sam McGee

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