Solar flare threat

[nocoincidences]

We've added Derecho to our 2020 Apocalypse Bing Cards and I hope there are still spaces left because the candidates are multiplying at a dizzying rate!

Now, we are entering a new active solar cycle, and there is a big one taking aim on us right out of the gate.

A massive sunspot observed on the sun is turning towards Earth and is expected to increase in size over the next few days.

The area, dubbed AR2770, has a 'primary dark core' the width of Mars and a number of crater-size 'spotlets' littering its surface.

The sunspot is a member of Solar Cycle 25, the new 11-year-long period of electromagnetic activity, and was observed crackling with minor flares.

Although AR2770 has yet to produce 'killer' solar flares, experts are keeping a close watch in a bid to prepare for such an event that could knock out electrical operations and facilities on our planet.

The new sunspot was observed by amateur astronomer Martin Wise, who snapped the image from Trenton, Florida.

'This sunspot was an easy target for my solar telescope,' said Wise noting he used an 8-inch scope with safe solar filters to capture the picture.

AR2770 is said to have emitted a number of B-class flares, the lowest class of solar flares, which have sent minor waves of ionization through Earth's atmosphere, Space Weather reports.

However, the spot is growing and increased activity is possible over the next few days that may produce more intense solar flares.
According to NASA, 'Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8612449/Sunspot-size-Mars-turning-Earth-solar-flares-affect-electronics.html

[captain queeg]

1. Yikes a solar flare could cause massive disruptions

I was at a meeting with electrical power grid operators and users a few years ago. They had some NASA guys talk about solar flares and how they can destroy transformers. We are lucky enough not to have had one pointed at us since the power grid came into existence but they determined by looking at old naval records that they are fairly common on a planetary scale, maybe every hundred years. They’ve seen big enough ones take place but not pointed at us sufficiently. They mention the weakness in big transformers and they’ve seen it take place in South America. Now that they know, new transformers are designed differently but most all our existing ones are susceptible. They painted a pretty dire picture, as you can imagine the whole grid going down and transformers take a long time to build. They’re all different, not like you can have spares laying around.

[nocoincidences]

2. The Carrington Event in 1859

was huge. Read the article below and get the poo scared out of you.

If that hit today....it would truly be a shit-hit-the-fan moment for the whole world.

https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event

[captain queeg]

4. Wow. The NASA guys said we are 5 meals away from barbarism

Referring to the effects. Think of New Orleans after the hurricane but everyone was hit at the same time so no help was coming. They came up with the hundred year occurrence by researching naval records. They go back hundreds of years and they looked for the right description of what sailors saw in the skies even though they had no idea what was happening back then. The lucky thing is that part of the earth (us) has to be facing the flare. So a flare that big is rare, and the odds of a “direct hit” makes it the more unlikely. But it certainly could happen.

[SeattleVet]

3. There is a great Space Weather channel on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkXjdDQ-db0xz8f4PKgKsag

Here's this week's segment, including info about AR2770. Doesn't sound like this has a high risk potential, but there are a few other bright regions coming up in the next several days.

I'm an amateur radio operator, and the new solar activity is very welcome for the much better propagation possibilities.