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You're right about that 'banana' picture of the Sun's magnetic field structure ... weird!
*Hi Shaun. Yep. I've searched Astropix extensively for all articles about Sol -- and thought I'd snagged 'em all. Just when I -wasn't- looking, that one appeared in a random and unrelated search. Made it all the more fun.
-*-
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005 … ]Sometimes they explode...sometimes they don't
Sun remains "surprisingly active" during solar (sunspot) minimum. Includes chart of 'spot numbers and X-class flares, which continue despite a solar minimum.
Also discusses the unpredictability of sunspots at any time, even during minimums:
Recent events bear this out: Rewind to January 10, 2005. It's four years since solar maximum and the sun is almost blank--only two tiny sunspots are visible from Earth. The sun is quiet.
The next day, with stunning rapidity, everything changes. On January 11th, a new 'spot appears. At first no more than a speck, it quickly blossoms into a giant almost as big as the planet Jupiter. "It happened so quickly," recalls Hathaway. "People were asking me if they should be alarmed."
Between January 15th and 20th, the sunspot unleashed two X-class solar flares, sparked auroras as far south as Arizona in the United States, and peppered the Moon with high-energy protons.
But then...
It almost happened again last month. On April 25, 2005, small sunspot emerged and--déjà vu--it grew many times wider than Earth in only 48 hours. This time, however, there were no eruptions.
Why not? No one knows.
:laugh: That's another thing I love about Sol: The unpredictability factor. Like late last year, when scientists thought a large 'spot was on the verge of disintegration and was no major worry ... they were relaxing ... and within 24 hours it exploded violently and totally caught them off guard. Teehee.
I didn't scroll back in this thread, but am certain I posted information about the two above-mentioned 'spots previously.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Cindy:-
:laugh: That's another thing I love about Sol: The unpredictability factor.
Yeah, just as long as it doesn't give us any really big surprises we can't handle! I kinda prefer old Sol to be nice and sedate and steady. [ ]
The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down. - Rita Rudner
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Cindy:-
:laugh: That's another thing I love about Sol: The unpredictability factor.
Yeah, just as long as it doesn't give us any really big surprises we can't handle! I kinda prefer old Sol to be nice and sedate and steady. [ ]
*Yeah, I understand that sentiment (to a point, lol).
I am disappointed, though, that we're in a minimum period. All those years PRE-internet, getting only trickles of information about the Sun. I've seen the many sketches of 'Spots which Galileo made, and have posted those twice (different articles, same issue -- his sketches). His observation drawings show chains of large Sunspots.
That is so enviable. I'd like a repeat of that soon, but the 'Spot maximum is at least 4 years away.
--Cindy
::EDIT:: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickofth … 005/]Large prominence with a "peculiar twist"
Ah, Sol seeks to appease dejected Sol lovers like me with a whimsical antic.
Shaped almost like a shrimp net that has partially opened to scoop up shrimp, the twisting prominence is far from the usual bulbous and rounded prominence we are used to observing.
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Area of 'Spot 758:
Image hosted by spaceweather.com. Says it has the appearance more of a rash than a "serious sunspot." Composed of "tiny components," 'Spot 758 sprawls over an area 15 times the diameter of Earth. Mr. Sylvain Weiller of France obtained the above 2-hour movie using a hydrogen-alpha filter on May 6. 'Spot 758 is unleashing a C9-class flare.
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010503.html]Far side of the Sun: Helioseismology
I've mentioned this technology before, but haven't been able to lift an image of it from spaceweather.com and haven't yet found these maps hosted elsewhere. This is so cool, and I always check the map each day. Shows far side and Earthside.
You may think it's impossible to see through the Sun, but maps of the Sun's far side are now made routinely by instruments on board the sun-staring SOHO spacecraft...
When AR9393 swung around to the Sun's far side, SOHO's Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI) instrument continued to map its position by measuring changes in motions caused by solar sound waves - transmitted through the Sun and influenced by the active region's strong magnetic fields.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Area of 'Spot 758:
-snip image-
...Says it has the appearance more of a rash than a "serious sunspot." Composed of "tiny components," 'Spot 758 sprawls over an area 15 times the diameter of Earth.
http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/ … f]Suddenly more than just "a rash"
*This 'Spot has also taken scientists by surprise. From spaceweather.com:
VEXING SUNSPOT: Only yesterday, right here, sunspot 758 was derided as "a rash" on the sun. Not anymore. The formerly-sparse 'spot is growing rapidly and gaining substance by the hour.
Sunspot 758 now poses a threat for M-class solar flares. Like sunspot 756 in late April, this active region reminds us how quickly big sunspots can materialize--a vexing problem for space weather forecasters!
Good ol' Sol...keeping them on their toes.
--Cindy
P.S.: Another big 'Spot, 759, has recently rotated over the eastern limb. 'Spot count has also jumped dramatically from around 60 (IIRC) yesterday to 106 this morning.
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Lol! There -is- a first time for everything. And I never anticipated posting THIS:
http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … *Smallest* CME yet observed
Not much larger in size than Earth itself. Also ("amazingly"), its magnetic field lines were 10 times more twisted than a regular-sized CME.
Another mystery then. The negative image of Sol is fantastic, too. I'd like a poster of it.
--Cindy
P.S.: And although tiny, its energies -did- reach Earth. Hmmmmm.
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 2005]Solar wind can be measured (speed and intensity) from chromosphere
*A new and surprising finding, considering the solar wind is emitted from the solar corona -and- the chromosphere is deep within the outer solar layers; in fact is the layer just above Sol's visible surface.
"It's like discovering that the source of the river Nile is another 500 miles inland," said Dr. Scott McIntosh of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo.
Hmmmm. What's the correlation? Is "information" sent from the corona down into the chromosphere, like a "backlash" of sorts? Staying tuned...
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Very nice post cutting...
Any commentary on the big Neutrino Chains or what?
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*Sunspot count is up again. It's been hovering around 50 (give or take 10) for quite a while now. Current 'Spot count is 95.
Sol's limb has been "beautifully active" this week with prominences. Photos:
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/0 … vre1.jpg]D. Favre: Prominences 5 times taller than Earth
I especially like the right-hand image of Sol's disc darkened. But golden granulation detail is always lovely too. Great contrast.
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http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/0 … lmer.jpg]G. Palmer
Can see dark filaments in that pic as well.
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http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/0 … son1.jpg]J. Stetson
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From SOHO:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/]Solar "clouds"
Will download and watch the video clip.
Within minutes of each other (and rarely seen in this 304 Angstrom wavelength of ultraviolet light), the Sun blasted out huge, swirling clouds of particles into space. SOHO was watching as an eruptive prominence, a floating cloud of gases above the Sun's surface, suddenly became unstable and rushed away from the Sun's lower right side.
--Cindy
P.S.: My...that video clip is awfully short. :-\ Two hours' worth of time. At first I thought maybe it hadn't downloaded completely or perhaps was a faulty video. It is of excellent quality, though, and I'm surprised the clouds of gases can move that quickly...considering how expansive they are.
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/ … nk.gif]Sol suddenly peppered with 'Spots
*The Sunspot count has been crazy lately. One day it's in the mid-50s then jumps up to 96 the next, then back down to the high 40s or mid-50s again, then up to 86 or so the following day. :-\ Has been interesting to watch the progression. The image in the link is from earlier today.
There has also been continued brisk filament formation and prominences. Apparently no CME's or solar flares are expected, though.
Will be watching to see what develops next. Never a dull moment lately and it'll likely either abruptly blossom into further activity or die down suddenly; I wouldn't care to place a bet either way. But perhaps the current cycle will hold a while longer...
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Lovely:
Obtained June 9 by Mr. John Stetson. The dominant plume is estimated to be 7 times taller than Earth. I especially enjoy photos of Sol wherein its disc is blacked out and all that remains is a ring of fire and what prominences/plumes remain.
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http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … .jpg]Photo of Sol
Is large. Will merely link to it. The biggest 'Spots are #775 and #776. Each possess twisted magnetic fields which could create M-class solar flares. The photo was taken without a filter. The ghostly banding is thick clouds which the photo was taken through.
Of course it's not recommended anyone observe Sol through even thick clouds (or haze, dust, etc.). Use http://www.spaceweather.com/sunspots/do … .html]safe solar observing techniques. (Yes, I know most/all people here probably know this...but for the benefit of newcomers...).
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://sweiller.free.fr/AstroMovies/AM- … ml]Ooooooo! I've hit the motherlode!
Yeah baby!
Solar prominence "movies" and the like. I'll have to download them later.
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/2 … jpg]Recent prominences (photo)
Current giant solar prominence over Sol's eastern limb. 200,000 km from end to end in size. Photo was taken by Sylvain Weiller of St Rémy lès Chevreuse, France -- who also has the web site linked to above.
As for the Sunspot count, it finally quit bouncing up and down from the mid-50s to 90s every other day (as it was doing for at least two weeks or so)...and currently has been rather steadily hovering around 55 (mean average).
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/]Funnel CME
*Obtained June 20. Two CMEs recorded by SOHO that day; they weren't particularly powerful, though.
The first CME had a funnel-like opening. Scientists speculating this is evidence for Sol's explusion of magnetic flux loops.
Would be great if we could capture a funnel CME face-on, but what with SOHO' obstructing disc...Maybe a solar 'scope has or could.
-*-
There are many photos of recent solar prominences on display at spaceweather.com, dated yesterday particularly.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991223.html]On May 10, 1999...
*...the solar wind nearly completely stopped. Says normal flow is 5 to 10 energetic particles per cubic centimeter, traveling at a speed of approximately 500 km per second.
Late in the day, the solar wind's output suddenly and dramatically dropped to 1 particle per every 5 cubic cm. :hm: I wonder how rarely (as averages go), something like this occurs. ??? Comparison is from a gale to a mere breeze.
The Sun's Corona was suddenly able to flow out into the Solar System relatively unimpeded, creating beams of energetic electrons. One such beam apparently reached Earth's North Magnetic Pole, and was seen as the unusual X-ray aurora digitally reconstructed in the above false-color image. Our atmosphere absorbed the electrons.
Nice image.
I've not seen any articles relating a similar event. Will Google; I'm curious to know if they discovered a reason why the solar wind would just suddenly dramatically drop like that...(and how frequent or infrequent).
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990731.html]Sol: Triple x-ray jet
*And here I thought I'd already snagged just about everything pertaining to Sol at Astropix.
This is an animation from 7 July 1998. Those x-ray images of Sol are always enjoyable. What's so special about these x-ray jets?
...the appearance of these three widely separated jets at once is considered an unlikely coincidence and has fueled current speculations about their origins.
-*-
'Spot count bounced back from 12 (previously it was 0 on the Earth-facing side) to nearly 60.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Should occur this summer: #1000. All this has been an unexpected benefit for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
On a different note, the Sunspot count jumped dramatically this week. Has been as high as the 190s, currently in the 180s. By comparison, last week Sol's Earth-facing side was entirely blank.
--Cindy
::EDIT:: Happy Aphelion.
July 5 on left ... January 2 on right
Photos by A. Ayiomamitis.
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/imf.html]The Sun is a big magnet
*And it's also groovy! :band:
Nice illustrations. Concise article.
'Spot count down to 68. Last week it was consistently very high, averaging 170-180 it seemed. Was waiting to see if the count would go past the 200 mark but it didn't.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … ]Beautiful magnetic loop
*Astronomers monitoring this emerging from 'Spot 786, on Sol's western limb. Photo is from A. Murner of Germany. Actually the loops are more easily seen in black and white, than color.
At http://www.spaceweather.com]spaceweather.com, for today's date, there are a handful of other photos of it. I might post some of those later, in an Edit.
There's also a movie of this loop available for viewing there -- at today's date -- but I can't hyperlink to it, to post it here.
'Spot count currently in the 60s.
--Cindy
::EDIT::
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … 1.jpg]From G. Palmer
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … vre1.jpg]D. Favre
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … tson.jpg]J. Stetson
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*Fabulous movie. Massive solar prominence which developed just earlier today:
It measures roughly 50 Earth-diameters.
The eruption was spectacular but not Earth-directed. Our planet should experience no effects from the blast.
The prominence pictured above should not be confused with another much smaller magnetic loop featured on Spaceweather.com yesterday. That one remains beautifully visible on the opposite limb of the Sun.
All of this hosted by spaceweather.com. 'Spot count dropped quite a bit: From 60s yesterday to 30s today.
I always enjoy movies of Sol, like this one. Wish we had more, and of longer duration.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/ … ig.gif]Big coronal hole on Sol
*That's quite an image (UV) from SOHO, dated July 18. They're describing it as "peanut-shaped." The solar wind is streaming from it; its energies should reach us July 20 or 21. Predicting it'll shake Earth's magnetic field. Good possibility of aurorae over U.S. northern-tier states, and Canada.
What's a coronal hole? It is a region above the sun's visible surface where solar magnetic fields fail to hold the sun's atmosphere in place. Hot gas flows out of the hole into space as a stream of solar wind.
'Spot number is 12. Far side of Sol (via helioseismographic image) shows minimal activity. It's cool following the ups and downs of the 'Spot count. I can't wait for maximum.
Info and photo courtesy Spaceweather.com.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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*'Spot count today is something I've never seen before at spaceweather.com:
Sunspot Number: -1
Erm...how can it be -1?? ???
Theres]http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/sunspotnumber.html]There's this short article about 'Spot numbers.
Guess that -1 rating is part of the process... :hm:
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Running]http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/24jul05/newton.jpg]"Running man" on the Sun
*Does look like it, huh? Pic taken July 23 by J. Newton of B.C. Canada.
Since July 22 there have been 8 coronal mass ejections but all emanated from the farside of Sol; none of those energies are heading our way. Last week, for 5 days, the Earth-facing side of Sol was entirely devoid of 'Spots. Strange: One side going bananas with explosions, the other side dormant. :?
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … n_sun.html
*Sol's neon content: Perhaps 3 times more neon than previously thought. Model broken? --
When viewed from such a close distance, different elements appear in different concentrations in different parts of the Sun, Drake explained, and it is difficult to say which area, if any, is an accurate representation of the Sun's chemical makeup.
Drake and his colleague Paola Testa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology got around these problems by measuring the neon abundance of 21 nearby Sun-like stars using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
By stepping back, they measured the average X-ray emission from the stars.
What the researchers found was that the nearby stars contained three times more neon than was calculated for the Sun.
The implication was clear. "Either the Sun is a freak in its stellar neighborhood, or it contains a lot more neon than we think"...
Cool. Article mentions the neon aspect is a "sensitive" issue amongst astronomers.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/1 … jpg]Purple Sun Rising
*Cool pic (being hosted by spaceweather.com). It was taken with a CaK filter which is
tuned to the violet glow of singly-ionized calcium in the sun's atmosphere.
CaK filters highlight the "beaches" (or "plages" in French; a preferred term) around Sunspots and supergranules.
'Spot count is currently 51. Small 'Spots, not much remarkable activity lately...but of course Sol is in a minimum period.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Cindy:-
*Fabulous movie. Massive solar prominence which developed just earlier today:
Beautiful! One of the best sequences I've seen of Old Sol.
I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this site:-
http://www.newscientistspace.com/articl … reups.html
It may prove to be a significant breakthrough in predicting solar 'weather', which could be very useful to space crews en route to Mars and hoping to avoid having their DNA roasted!
Now, Schrijver and three colleagues have devised two related ways to determine which suspicious regions are likely to erupt. Both methods hinge on detecting which magnetic field lines from within the Sun are carrying up strong electrical currents. The currents appear to drive solar eruptions, but scientists do not yet understand what causes the currents in the first place.
It seems they can now predict where a solar eruption will occur with an accuracy rate of 90%! (Impressive.) But they can't be sure exactly when such events will occur.
But it's a very good start!
The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down. - Rita Rudner
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