Space Weather From Sun Could Effect Communications

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We would like to advise you of some interesting space weather heading our way. Sometime between late tonight and tomorrow afternoon, we're expected to be hit by three successive Coronal Mass Ejections originating from our Sun, headed directly for Earth.

Usually these are harmless, but the strength of the last batch are on a scale capable of affecting electronic equipment. They're known to cause data corruption and sometimes hardware failure. Our staff will be on site and ready in case of any failure, but we would like you to be forewarned in the event of any downtime.

You can find more details about today's phenomenon here:
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

As an interesting tidbit, if you can look at the Sun during sunset this evening, you will be able to see with your own eyes the dark sunspot that spit the CME at us. Yes, it is that big.

 

[obiwansativa]

Thanks for the "Heads-up" :O

 

[THsea]

Whoa, cool stuff! To bad it may effect my internets. So while I like the science news, its hard to be excited.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Sol used to annoy me a couple times each year when it got directly behind the satellites that I was receiving signals from. Never any harm from that, of course, but it played havoc with the signal/background.

As an interesting tidbit, if you can look at the Sun during sunset this evening, you will be able to see with your own eyes the dark sunspot that spit the CME at us. Yes, it is that big.

Having done way too much staring at the sun during my childhood years, I'd caution against the practice. Brief glances are not generally harmful if the eyes are healthy and can respond properly to the brightness (err... dilated pupils, anyone?). But about 100 seconds' worth of observation with the naked eye can begin to cause UV-induced, sunburn-like lesions on the retina and the effects are worse on young eyes. Unfiltered binoculars can deliver over 500 times as much energy to the retina as using the naked eye, killing retinal cells almost instantly.

During sunrise and sunset sunlight is attenuated due to Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering from a particularly long passage through Earth's atmosphere, and the sun is sometimes faint enough to be viewed comfortably with the naked eye or safely with optics (provided there is no risk of bright sunlight suddenly appearing through a break between clouds). Hazy conditions, atmospheric dust, and high humidity contribute to this atmospheric attenuation.

It is extremely easy to make a simple pinhole camera with a cardboard box or even a couple sheets of stiff paper and a pin. There are lots on web pages on how to make them. Here is one describing a very simple one. (Wikipedia also has a page with more elaborate setups.)
Observing the Sun for Yourself

Take care of those eyes! The world becomes a much darker place without them.

 

[mk1903a3]

it takes 8 minutes to reach earth from the sun at the speed of light.so i do not think we have a lot to worry about.