Posted on 12/21/2014 8:53:31 AM PST by BenLurkin
The huge solar flare registered as an X1.8-class event, one of the most powerful types of flares possible, and was captured on camera by NASA's powerful Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare triggered a strong radio blackout for parts of Earth as it peaked Friday at 7:28 p.m. EST (0028 Dec. 20 GMT), according to an alert from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center overseen by NOAA.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Really?
Could be why our Muzak system went out for a while on Saturday?
Women and minorities hardest hit!
Unlikely...
“...triggered a strong radio blackout for parts of Earth...”
Huh. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t picking up radio stations from my teeth’s fillings?
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide to blame?
If this is as bad as it gets... then we will be fine. I thought a Carrington Event kills electronics so much more efficiently? Is a Carrington Event even worse? This is described as the worst flare possible. What am I missing?
Absolutely. “Global warming” is causing the sun to heat up and expel this “new” radiation ... doncha know?!
Magnetic north has headed so far north, that the field is weakening in some areas. If there’s much damage from one of the minor flares that the hysterical political/regulator effete are cackling hysterical exaggerations about, it will be because of that. But an X1.8 flare is otherwise no big deal compared to other flares that we’ve experienced over the last 15 years.
yes, it’s possible...technically speaking, assuming the area affected was in the line of fire for the interference unleashed by the Solar event or the feed was. (I don’t have the map handy)
Muzak, (unless they have radically changed) is broadcast on a FM sub channel from a radio station. If you were on the outer area of the antennae range, the broadcast could well have been temporarily blocked, or the feed for the broadcast may well have been disrupted to the radio station as much of that comes via satellite or in some cases...a phone line.
Not knowing the particulars or location of the feed or the broadcast, I can’t say for sure what the potential for disruption was, but I have seen this happen before......and Muzak or it’s competitors use a variety of means to get the signal to the end user.
Having said all of that, the media does exaggerate these events quite frequently these days..The Ham radio guys may have a better handle on the issue.
Thank goodness the Sun is waking up. The prospect of continued weak activity was worrisome.
I want some warmth, not a mini-ice age.
X class is strong, However it needs to be in the X 20 range (the Quebec blackout) for trouble to start
It is unlikely for several reasons.
First, the flare reportedly peaked on Friday at 7:28 p.m. EST. Wisconsin is in the Central time zone, so that would have been at 6:28 PM local time. The reported Muzak outage was “for a while on Saturday”, which would have been sometime between about six to thirty hours later.
So, to be pedantic, effects of the flare would have to be evaluated on an immediate basis as well as on a delayed basis.
Immediate effects - unlikely: The immediate effect of the flare was a radio blackout on HF frequencies (roughly 10 MHz and below) over Australia and the South Pacific (Australia has several time zones, Sydney for example is maybe 16 hours ahead of NY, so it would have been close to noon time there with the sun relatively high overhead on almost the Solstice marking the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, thus the increased ionization leading to high levels of absorption of HF signals for a relatively brief period), however HF frequencies are not involved in Muzak distribution. Moreover, the geosynchronous satellite(s) responsible for Muzak distribution to the US would have been in darkness at the time of the flare, so it is unlikely that there would have been any immediate effect of the flare on the Muzak satellite network or ground station(s), which would also have been in darkness (antenna pointing for the Muzak feed from Wisconsin from the Galaxy 3C satellite, for example, would be almost due South).
Delayed effects - unlikely: While the flare reportedly generated a CME (coronal mass ejection), the CME was not aimed directly at Earth, so at the most a minor geomagnetic storm might be expected, but since geomagnetic storms are triggered by slower-moving charged particles rather than the burst of X-rays and UV light that triggered HF blackouts, any resultant geomagnetic storm was not likely to have been experienced during Saturday, since CME effects may take three to five days to reach the Earth. Also, the direct effects of a geomagnetic storm on a satellite are likely to be more noticeable on a satellite in low-Earth orbit rather than on a much-higher orbiting geosynchronous satellite (although permanent damage from charged particles is a risk for such satellites).
So, that’s why I suggested that a link between the solar flare and the reported temporary Muzak outage was ‘unlikely’.
Although it is possible that I am incorrect about the geosynchronous satellite(s) being in darkness, as it appears that for those satellites darkness would occur during a period close to the Equinoxes, not close to the Solstices which I had expected, so I’m off by six months.
Um, I mean by three months, not six months.
Can’t do simple astronomy until I’ve had at least a cup of hot Lapsang Souchon tea, geesh...
I am more of a Earl Grey type....Got hooked on the stuff a few decades ago.
Yeah...I agree with most of that....
But the radio issues I was referring to usually occur after about 8 minutes past the CME and they last for less than 30 minutes, usually...
Had the CME been directed at earth, the ionization and magnetic disturbances follow in a second wave about 3 days later but that’s not the case here.
As I said, I had no idea what was facing the sun at the time of the event. I don’t know where the geo syc sats are in relationship to Muzak’s signal and I have heard nothing about any issues with geo location devices...
But it sure is possible..
I was doing communications work in the 80s and 90s...and during that time I had made service calls to several stores that used music systems and found damages related to CME events.., or at least indirectly if not directly.
Had some big ones back then....in the x20s
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