Posted on 04/10/2010 10:13:57 AM PDT by TaraP
Decaying sunspot 1060 delivered a parting shot on April 8th. The active region's magnetic field erupted, sparking a B3-class solar flare and hurling a faint coronal mass ejection (CME) almost directly toward Earth. Geomagnetic disturbances are possible when the cloud arrives on April 11th or 12th. [UPDATED: aurora gallery]
SUNGRAZING COMET: Today, the sun had a comet for breakfast. The icy visitor from the outer solar system appeared with no warning on April 9th and plunged into the sun during the early hours of April 10th. One comet went in, none came out. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) had a good view of the encounter
The comet was probably a member of the Kreutz sungrazer family. Named after a 19th century German astronomer who studied them in detail, Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a giant comet at least 2000 years ago. Several of these fragments pass by the sun and disintegrate every day. Most are too small to see but occasionally a big fragment like today's attracts attention.
This has been an active year for big, bright sungrazers. There was one on Jan. 4th, one on March 12th, and now one today. Normally we see no more than 3 or 4 bright ones in a whole year; now we're seeing them almost once a month. It could be a statistical fluctuation or, maybe, a swarm of Kreutz fragments is nearing perihelion (closest approach to the sun). Stay tuned for doomed comets!
I wonder what our ancestors thought when solar storms caused auroras to appear in unusual latitudes.
It has been awhile since I've seen any northern lights, with the sun in very low output of solar flares. It would be great to see some soon.
TaraP - You’re welcome and glad you know it is the truth!
Amen back to you, Quix.
Hi, LTOS - Yes, these are some awesome pictures aren’t they? They make my “cloud” pictures seem, well, every day....LOL (I have a presentation about Clouds of Glory - but have not put it up our out for public consumption yet...)
I couldn’t exactly tell what that video showed - do you know?
I know my eyes are bad - but I can’t see Jesus in that photograph? Can you help me see him there?
Oh my goodness!!!
Wow!
I probably have taken a picture of many Hebrew letters in the cloud photos I have!!!
I wouldn’t doubt it!
THANKS THANKS.
YOu’re welcome!
Another 7.1.
Might be earth’s gravitational pull towards the Sun is impacted by flares.
It’s almost over. We’re still here.
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