solar-cycle

How SDO captures images of the Sun – Solar Dynamic Observatory

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The upcoming solar cycle maximum is due to peak during 2012 and 2013. We will be seeing more and more images of the sun as an increasing number of sunspots, solar flares, and CME’s (coronal mass ejection) get our attention and make the news over the next few years.

Given the interest of this blog (and our readers) in survival preparedness as it relates to current events, both man-made and geophysical, including those from our sun, I thought it would be of interest to post a few basics about where these solar images come from.


During February 2010, NASA launched its Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) into geosynchronous orbit above the Earth.

The SDO orbit is 22,000 miles above the Earth, located at 102 degrees West longitude, inclined at 28.5 degrees.

It is stationary (maintaining the same orbital speed of the Earth) and almost directly over the NASA White Sands Complex near Las Cruces, New Mexico where two 18 meter antennas point straight up to pick up the signal and data stream from SDO.

Here is the view as it would be seen from SDO, as if looking back towards Earth (perspective to scale) 22,000 miles above its geosynchronous position near Las Cruces.

Attached to the SDO are four very special built telescopes that always point at the sun. The assembly of telescopes is called the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, or AIA.

Every 10 seconds, the AIA captures images of the sun in 10 different spectral bands (wavelengths). The data is constantly beamed down to Earth at 150Mbps, about 1.5 terabytes of data per day, in a very high resolution format of 4096 x 4096 pixels per image.

SDO images of the sun can be viewed at the NASA SDO website.

The images span a total of seven EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet), one UV (Ultra Violet) and two visible channels enabling visibility of solar temperatures ranging from the photosphere to the corona while viewing magnetic fields and plasma.

The ten waveband images are actually representative of the temperature of gases ranging from 10,000 to 30,000,000 Kelvin  (~20,000 to 50,000,000 Fahrenheit).

List of AIA wavelength channels (Angstroms)

• Visible wavelength sees the photosphere
• 1700 (photosphere)
• 1600 (upper photosphere)
• 335 (corona)
• 304 (chromosphere)
• 211 (corona)
• 193 (corona and hot flare plasma)
• 171 (upper corona)
• 131 (flaring regions)
• 94 (flaring regions)

Upper Layers of the sun

Photosphere

• The light producing region that we can see
• 500 km deep, thin like the layer of an onion
• Temperature (Kelvin) 4,500 (bottom of layer) – 7,500 (top of layer)
• Temperature (Fahrenheit) 8,000 – 13,000

Chromosphere

• Region above the photosphere with bundles of magnetic field lines forming a web-like pattern
• 10,000 km thick
• Temperature (Kelvin) 5,000 (bottom of layer) to several hundred thousand (top of layer)
• Temperature (Fahrenheit) 8,500 – 350,000

Corona

• The region above the chromosphere
• Extends out several solar radii
• Temperature (Kelvin) as high as 2,000,000
• Temperature (Fahrenheit)as high as 3,600,000

A very good overview of the SDO mission can be seen in this video.

Another informative video of the Solar Dynamics Observatory

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15 Interesting Facts about the Sun

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As interest heightens while we approach the next 11-year solar cycle maximum during 2012 – 2013,

Interesting facts about the sun

• The sun has three layers,
  • Radiative Zone (innermost layer of nuclear fusion)
  • Convective Zone (where the heat moves slowly from the inner layer to the surface)
  • Photosphere (the layer that we can see)



• The sun is a big ball of  gas, 74 percent hydrogen and 24 percent helium.
• At the sun’s core, nuclear fusion burns about 600 million tons of hydrogen every second, resulting in 596 million tons of helium and 4 million tons of energy.



• The energy output from the sun is  385 billion billion megawatts, of which the Earth receives 95 billion megawatts (about the energy from 95 million typical sized nuclear power plants).



• It takes 1 million years for the energy from the core to reach the surface of the sun.
• About half of the sun’s hydrogen has been used up so far.



• The temperature at the core of the sun is 27 million degrees F (15 million degrees C).
• The surface temperature of the sun is about 10 thousand degrees F (5,500 degrees C).



• The sun has a differential rotation, about every 25 days at the surface of the equator and about 35 days near the poles.



• The diameter of the sun is 864,000 miles wide (1.4 million km).
• 109 Earths would fit across the width of the sun.



• The sun radiates light (photons) and charged particles of electrons and protons (solar wind).
• The normal solar wind travels about 280 miles per second (450 km) and takes almost 4 days to reach the Earth.



• The light from the sun (like all light) travels 186,282 miles per second (299,791 km) and takes about 8 and one-half minutes to reach the Earth which is 93 million miles away (150 million km).



• Solar cycles occur every 11 years with an increase in sunspot activity, which sometimes erupt into solar flares that eject electromagnetic radiation particles into space.

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Solar SuperStorm 1859 – It could happen again

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This solar storm information is not intended to be alarmist, but to make you think.


The Solar SuperStorm of 1859. It happened during September 1–2, 1859 and was the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded.

During the Thursday morning of 1-September, Richard Carrington, a 33 year old amateur astronomer from England, first observed sunspot activity that would later lead to the monumental eruption. The observations were seen using his solar telescope which projected an 11 inch diameter image on to a surface where he would sketch the large group of sunspots.

During his observations that morning he suddenly witnessed two brilliant spots of light forming within the sunspot group which rapidly grew in size, twice as bright as the sun itself. Within 5 minutes the mega flare had peaked in size and intensity, reduced back to pinpoints of light, and vanished.

Early the following morning, much of the world was witnessing a massive and tremendously bright display of the aurora, even at latitudes in the tropics. During the same time, telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed while spraying out sparks from telegraph poles and igniting widespread fires.

The telegraph system was the only high technology of that day, archaic by today’s standards, and it was brought down by an invisible force from the sun.

Today,  the problem begins with the electric power grid, the essential conduit carrying the life blood of nearly all services and infrastructure that our modern society depends upon.

The way in which the grid is built in the United States (similarly elsewhere), lines stretched out overhead at distances spanning and crisscrossing nearly 200,000 miles, it acts as a giant vulnerable antenna which would easily pick up the electrical currents induced by a geomagnetic solar storm which could potentially create widespread or catastrophic problems.

The electrical currents can surge, melt, and destroy the copper windings of transformers, which are the essential interconnecting links distributed all over the grid. To make matters even more vulnerable, the utility companies have interconnected their grids together, enabling long distance distribution and control of supply and demand.

The most notable recent geomagnetic power outage took place during March 1989 when a solar storm plunged millions of people into darkness in Quebec, Canada as their power grid system failed. To put it in context, the solar superstorm of 1859 was many, many times more powerful than the 1989 storm affecting Quebec.

EHV transformers, at-risk capacity

At high risk today are the network of EHV transformers (Extra-High-Voltage, 345,000 volts and above) spread around the grid, which if damaged, would literally take years to replace due to their highly specialized manufacture.

The consequences of such a dire circumstance need not be spelled out here. Leave it to your own imagination and consider your own emergency preparedness plans as we come closer to the next 11-year peak of the solar cycle.

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Enormous Ring is Developing on the Sun

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What is this strange ring that has been developing on the Sun during 16-Oct?

Sunspot 1112, located in the southeast quadrant, has been the source of a giant filament that is currently stretching 400,000 km across the surface of the Sun.

However, today, there appears to be development of a enormous circular ring which looks to be linking with the huge magnetic filament of sunspot 1112. Most of today’s various wavelength images of the Sun all show this feature over at the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) – NASA website.

SpaceWeather.com today reports,

A vast filament of magnetism is cutting across the Sun’s southern hemisphere today. A bright ‘hot spot’ just north of the filament’s midpoint is UV radiation from sunspot 1112. The proximity is no coincidence; the filament appears to be rooted in the sunspot below. If sunspot flares, it could cause the entire structure to erupt. This active region merits watching…

What concerns me is that if indeed this is a huge magnetic filament nearly encircling the entire Sun, it is now currently directly facing the Earth. If sunspot 1112 does erupt, could the entire filament explode into a massive CME?

This particular phenomenon will be all over in a few days as it rotates around the Sun, but it serves to remind us that there are more and more events happening on the Sun as we transit into the next solar cycle maximum (peaking ~ 2012 into 2013).


CME is short for coronal mass ejection, a plasma made up of mostly electrons and protons.

Basically, a CME is electromagnetic radiation that is ejected from active regions of the sun.

CMEs directed at Earth can interfere with  radio communications, harm satellites, and even damage electrical power transmission circuits and infrastructure, potentially causing widespread power grid failure. The biggest threat to human civilization is the later, a massive power grid failure, which could take months or even years to repair. This circumstance would require an extremely powerful CME, which fortunately do not occur on a regular basis.




Update 16-Oct-2010:

Issued: 2010 Oct 16 2156 UTC
Product: documentation at http://www.sidc.be/products/presto
#——————————————————————–#
# FAST WARNING ‘PRESTO’ MESSAGE from the SIDC (RWC-Belgium) #
#——————————————————————–#
An M2.9 X-ray flare occurred at 19:12UT at S20W26 in the vicinity of
active region 1112. There is no evidence for an associated CME. The
flare was confined in time. The filament in the neighborhood of the
flare site didn’t erupt as can be seen in PROBA2/SWAP images.

Sunspot 1112 just produced a solar flare (16-Oct, 2156 UTC) and we have apparently dodged a bullet for the moment… it did not ignite the massive filament. However, Sunspot 1112 is still Earth-facing and could easily flare again… Eyes are still on it…




Update 17-Oct-2010:

While reports are indicating that yesterdays M3-class eruption was the largest in three months, sunspot 1112 is still growing and the huge associated filament remains intact and ready to ignite should a larger flare explode in the upcoming hours.

Composite Image from 17-Oct-2010, 1435 UTC

Update 18-Oct-2010:

Sunspot 1112 and its monstrous 400,000 km filament located in the southeast quadrant, continues its (left to right) rotation around the sun, while still Earth facing and intact.

Composite Image from 18-Oct-2010, 1333 UTC



A total of five “B” and “C” -class flares ignited today from sunspot region 1112, a high number but fairly small in intensity, not enough to ignite the filament.

Check out the close-up image of the region as it makes its way towards the south east edge. Image from AIA (Atmospheric Imager Assembly) wavelength: 171 angstroms.

Maybe too much information, but it has been fun to watch this one…

Solar cycles come and go about every 11 years or so, and is due to reach the next solar maximum sometime between 2012 and 2013. It is a process, a ramp up. I’m sure that there will be many more posts in the future, assuming that the activity continues to increase over the next year or two. The fact that we are seeing activity is not unusual. However it has been interesting to observe the magnificent filament that developed over the surface during the past several days, along with its ominous shape.




Update 19-Oct-2010:

The filament that we’ve been watching has grown to 500,000 km, and incredibly, a small part of it erupted into space while leaving the majority still intact. The eruption is NOT Earth directed, while the entire region has rotated near the limb of the sun.

Update 19-Oct-2010, later in the day…

Sunspot region 1112 belted off 4 small solar flares today and is still very active while beginning to twist over the southeast limb.

Update 20-Oct-2010

5 additional flares so far today, the largest being a C1.5. Today may be the last we see of region 1112, unless it survives the 12 day journey around the far side of the sun.




Update 21-Oct-2010

Parting image of sunspot 1112… on the edge

Update 3-Nov-2010

Right on time, sunspot 1112 survived the journey around the back side of the sun and is now appearing into view on the southwest limb. This mighty sunspot has teeth. Time will tell if it has diminished in intensity or if it harbors more surprises. Maybe another filament ring??

Update 6-Nov-2010

Yesterday, the powers that be, renamed sunspot 1112 to 1121. It remains just as active (if not more so) than it was when we first observed it during the days of the “ring”. It is shooting off C and M-class flares and is beginning to rotate towards the Earth.

Maybe a Solar Telescope will be an enjoyable hobby during the upcoming solar maximum.



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Solar Flare – August 1, 2010

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The solar flare and complex eruption that took place during August 1, 2010 on nearly half the surface of the sun was alarming in the size of the surface area that was affected, being so immense and nearly unthinkable when comparing to the dimension of Earth.

As the sun approaches its solar cycle maximum sometime during 2012 or 2013, we are warned by NASA and others that a major solar flare event such as the one that occurred in 1859 has not yet tested the modern technology that we now use and rely on for our daily needs and survival. Should such a similar solar storm happen again (which it will sooner or later), it is nearly a certainty that satellites and the power grid would fry. Rather than pretending that something more powerful than this event on the sun would never happen, or cause something like a wide spread chain reaction power grid failure, serious thought should be given to preparing for the possibility of major disruption, even to the magnitude of survival without months (or longer) of electrical power.

The following images and video of the accounting of that event are reminders that there are powers in nature beyond our control that could change our life as we know it or our very survival.



On August 1st, almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. This extreme ultraviolet snapshot from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows the sun’s northern hemisphere in mid-eruption. Different colors in the image represent different gas temperatures ranging from ~1 to 2 million degrees K. Credit: NASA/SDO

On August 1, 2010 around 0855 UT, Earth orbiting satellites detected a C3-class solar flare. The origin of the blast was sunspot 1092. At about the same time, an enormous magnetic filament stretching across the sun’s northern hemisphere erupted. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action.

One of the fastest CMEs in years was captured by the STEREO COR1 telescopes on August 1, 2010. This movie, combining COR1-Ahead images with the simultaneous Helium II 304 Angstrom images from the STEREO EUVI telescope, shows the rapid explosion of material outward, followed by a slower eruption of a polar crown prominence from another part of the Sun. This CME is seen to be heading towards Earth at speeds well over 1000 kilometers per second. Credit: NASA/STEREO

A video showing a closer view of the sun’s northern hemisphere reveals the magnitude of the solar event of August 1, 2010 in that so much of the surface of the sun was affected.



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