Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Report: Earth in the crosshairs of a major solar storm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2042428/Earth-cross-hairs-huge-solar-storm-caused-sunspot-1302.html

QUOTE: "A sunspot, 62,000 miles across - so big it would dwarf the Earth - is releasing gigantic solar flares that could in theory wreak havoc with electrical communications ranging from handheld electronics such as iPhones to sections of the power grid.  Nasa has detected two X-class solar eruptions from 1302 – the most extreme possible – in the past week. One that occurred on September 24 produced an amazing light show over England last night – but it’s far from over, as the sunspot isn’t yet directly aligned with Earth."

We've talked about the potential effects of a "Coronal Mass Ejection" on occasion, but this seems like a time to especially keep a wary eye out.  And a quick re-read of the story of the Carrington Event of 1859 might be worthwhile as well. 

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