Satellite Pictures Show Huge Eruption on Sun

Reuters ^ | Ju;y 1, 2002 | Reuters

[gcruse]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A massive solar eruption, more than 30 times the length of Earth's diameter, blasted away from the sun on Monday, and a satellite captured graphic images of the event.

The eruption occurred at 9:19 a.m. EDT and showed up in a picture taken by one instrument of the SOHO satellite as a fiery-looking "leg" in the lower-left corner of the image, scientists said in a statement.

Pictures taken over the following 90 minutes by another SOHO instrument show a loopy-looking eruption taking place and then dispersing. All images are visible at the SOHO Web site, http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov.

The "leg" is what astronomers call an eruptive prominence, which is a loop of magnetic fields that trap hot gas inside. As this prominence became unstable, it erupted into the area around the sun and appeared to dissipate.

If eruptions like these are aimed at Earth, they can disturb Earth's magnetosphere, but this one was not directed at our planet, a spokesman for SOHO said by telephone.

SOHO -- short for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- is run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency.

[Redcloak]

Hah! So you'd like to believe. The Rockefellers are a decoy. They were chosen for that role in a secret meeting between Joe Kennedy and the Pope in 1908 at a villa outside of Milan.

[phil1750]

So, how much did Bush know, and when did he know about this?

[Kermit]

Hey, doesn't anyone known at what point we are in the 21 year or is that 22 year Solar cycle? High point, low point or somewhere in between?

[gcruse]

We are in it about up to here. =)

[ninenot]

Glad you put that up. Saved me a lot of research and typing.

[RightWhale]

22 year Solar cycle?

It would be coming off the peak.

[WKB]

So, how much did Bush know, and when did he know about this?</>

This was put in place by King George the First. W is only following through!

[Kermit]

Ah, maybe we just saw the peak.;^)

[nravoter]

Well, the Democrats tried to warn us what would happen if we pulled out of Kyoto. < /sarcasm>

[jpl]

The current forecast for Washington D.C. tomorrow is calling for temperatures in the neighborhood of 105 degrees. Look for a plethora of B.S. global warming articles from the New York Times and Washington Post later this week.

[TADSLOS]

Probably another solar muslim suicide bomber going off.

[Young Werther]

Not only that but those nasty SUVs continue to interrupt our daily life. Yesterday Rush pointed out that an NY Post article had reportedthat "SUV Kills Man!" And we thought that Stephen King's "Christine" was just so much fiction! Not only do they pollute and change our climate but they run us down as well.

[Momaw Nadon]

I thought the solar cycle was 11 years long.

[FreedomFarmer]

Didn't the classy green eyed thingy warn us about this?

[Pagey]

On a link off the Drudge site, That Flare on the bottom Left is, steady yourself---240,000 miles---yes,Two hundred forty thousand miles Long.That really gives you an idea how Large the sun really is.

[gcruse]

Didn't the classy green eyed thingy warn us about this?

Yes, right before her profile page got so big even
electrons were not able to escape it.

[CarolAnn]

Damn the luck... I just read that it was directed away from earth. The last time it was directed towards us, there were spectacular northern lights - even way down here in Kansas.

[P-Marlowe]

It's hard to imagine how huge that is......

Actually its kinda easy. Blow the picture up until it is the size of your entire computer monitor screen. Now, go and look at the right hand bottom of your screen where there is a little globe next to the word "internet." Now if you are running a screen resolution of 1280 x 960, then that is the about the size of the earth compared to the sun.

[Aggie Mama]

You are great! Thanks, that really helped. =)

[Kermit]

I thought the Sun grew stronger for 11 years, then waned for 11 years. Where are the FReeper science types?