Posted on 07/07/2009 2:29:50 PM PDT by Squidpup
ASTRONOMERS are claiming that Earth is witnessing the biggest and most powerful Sunspot ever seen and the sunspot is yet to peak in intensity.
A sunspot is a magnetic storm on the surface of the sun and the area of the spot is colder than the normal surface.
The normal surface is about 5000 degrees, the temperature of a sunspot is about 3000 degrees.
The size of a sunspot varies, ranging from the size of the moon to 65 times larger than the size of earth and lasts for about a month then fades away.
This newest sunspot is thought to be 60 to 80 times the size of Earth and has occurred on the side of the sun, which is in view of Australia.
Wappa Falls Observatory head astronomer Owen Bennedick describes the sunspot shape like the letter S and thinks it to be approximately 150,000 km long and 30,000 km wide.
“It's flares have not yet been measured,” Owen Bennedick said, “but it is like hundreds of thousands of hydrogen bombs.”
The flares have been so bright that NASA has had trouble taking accurate pictures of the sunspot.
Mr Bennedick said the sunspot is still growing in intensity but predicts it could climax by today.
The sunspot will cause the Earth's atmosphere to heat up, potentially creating problems to powerlines, radio transmitters and delicate equipment such as mobile phones and computers.
Mr Bennedick suggests powerline filters be installed on computers and people should put on extra sunscreen.
Sunspots appear on the sun in cycles, occurring every 11 years, the current cycle has four years until it reaches it peak.
The last sunspot happened two years ago and was the most powerful flare yet measuring x28.
Most sunspot flares measure around x12 which is still considered powerful.
The Sunspot two years ago was 45 times larger than the earth and lasted for 45 days.
Since that sunspot, no more had been seen until Sunday, this latest one considered the most powerful yet.
The Wappa Falls Observatory is in the process of installing a new 12 inch telescope which will allow a greater view of the sky.
The new telescope was bought in honour of Kerry Mounter who recently passed away.
Mr Mounter was an inspiration to all who worked at the Wappa Falls Observatory. The telescope will be dedicated to his memory.
Apparently different than the current Sunspot 1024
OMG!! It’s all our fault. If only we weren’t so darn selfish releasing all that CO2 into the atmosphere! /S
But, it’s all man made and who do you serve if you sue the sun.
bttt
This is almost certainly the second summer of the second little ice age: LIA-II.
I guess that would be the dark side.
There will be signs in the skies... and global warming is a lie and Al Gore a liar.
Obama’s fault.
I don’t know who wrote this hogwash but it is absolute BS on a Solar magnitude. Must be one of Al Gore’s operatives.
Here is the latest summary of Solar activity from NOAA:
Updated 2009 Jul 06 2201 UTC
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity
SDF Number 187 Issued at 2200Z on 06 Jul 2009
Analysis of Solar Active Regions and Activity from 05/2100Z to 06/2100Z: Solar activity was low. Region 1024 (S27W26) produced an isolated C1/Sf flare at 06/1705Z. Region 1024 showed minor decay with loss of some intermediate spots, but retained a mix of polarities near region center.
Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be very low with a chance for an isolated C-class flare.
Geophysical Activity Summary 05/2100Z to 06/2100Z: Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels.
Geophysical Activity Forecast: Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels during days 1 - 2 (07 - 08 July). Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels on day 3 (09 July) due to an increase in solar wind velocities associated with a favorably positioned coronal hole.
[Latest Report]
Obama’s fault.
Bookmark
/johnny
“There’s a little black spot on the sun today...”
I put some sunscreen on my computer and it still crashed.
I’m confused, I thought we were not having any sunspots and that is why it’s been so cool.
OMG, isn’t this something we can ward off by putting a few $trillion to it? /sarc
Repeater? or Calling channel?
Haven’t been on 6 in years.
Yep. After a comment like that from the reporter, the rest of the article is suspect.
S-Spot to climax today.
Women are warned not to use Excite Stimulating Gel
for 24 hours.
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