The Sun Has Gone Wrong And Scientists Don't Know Why

[red dog 1]

Newsweek
September 8, 2017


If you still have your solar viewing glasses from the eclipse, now is a good time to slap them on and look up at the sun.
You'll see two big dark areas on our star.
These massive sunspots are regions of intense and complicated magnetic fields that can produce solar flares - bursts of high-energy radiation.
You can just make them out through solar viewing glasses, but they're better viewed through a solar telescope.

These two huge sunspots are currently causing quite a bit of consternation and interest.
The solar storms they sent toward Earth may affect communications and other technologies like GPS and radio signals.
They're causing amazing displays of the northern and southern lights.
And space weather scientists like us are excited because we wouldn't normally expect this much activity from the sun at the moment.

On September 6, the sun produced two massive X-class flares.
This is the category for the strongest of all solar flares.
NASA announced one was the most powerful since at least 2008.

Read entire article + video + photos:
http://www.newsweek.com/solar-minimum-sun-activity-solar-flare-baffling-scientists-661695





(From Solarham.net, Monday, September 11, 2017)

Coronagraph imagery is now complete following the X8.2 solar flare on Sunday.
The full halo corona mass ejection (CME) was so powerful and widespread, there actually appears to be an Earth-directed component.

UPDATE:
According to the latest tracking models, the edge of the large CME may deliver a glancing blow to our geomagnetic field by September 13.
More:
http://www.solarham.net

[marybourg]

1. Have headlines writers finally reached

the extreme limits of sensationalism that the English language is capable of sustaining? Soon they'll have to start using symbols to stir us to read their "products"; death heads, and devils and lightening bolts and erupting volcanos.

[longship]

3. Nota bene: one cannot overplay a coronal mass ejection.

They fuck things up big time.

Consider if the Carrington Event happened today!
Solar storm of 1859 (Carrington Event -- largest recorded coronal mass ejection directed at Earth)

Half the planet without electricity for months is not a trifle.

[marybourg]

4. But characterizing the condition of the sun as

"The Sun has Gone Wrong" is just sensationalism geared to frighten us into reading the article.

And in any event, although this is not the crux of my complaint and I'm not going to research it, we've had active suns during putative minima and vice versa, just during my lifetime.

[longship]

5. Well, I'll give you that.

But I've long since given up on headline writers, especially where science reportage is concerned. The headline editors should all be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. Especially those who cover science.

[longship]

6. But we've not had anything like the Carrington Event since 1859.

If it happened now, half the planet could be plunged into darkness for a long time. And that is no exaggeration.

That's why the space weather people take these things very very seriously. As should everybody.

[tymorial]

9. It's not the story that is in question

It is the means by which news providers an online journalism websites use to entice users to click on links. The sensationalism and emotional manipulation is designed to get people to click on links. Yes, the news story may be important but that isn't the reason for the hyperbolic blithering of this politician "slams" other politician like we see in yahoo all the damned time.

Oh and let us not forget the sponsored content links showing pictures and images completely unrelated to described topic.

[longship]

13. I ignore sponsored links. They are rubbish.

They also likely have more to do with ones browsing history than an individual click-through. Or, so I suppose.

Regardless, my objection remains with the headline editors, who conflate everything.

[ClusterFreak]

15. I agree with you totally.

The headline is pure sensationalist trash.... what are we supposed to do as mere mortals here on the 3rd rock from that sun? The sun is the sun and as such will do whatever it wants, like keep shining and nourishing the earth for another billion years. Or it might fucking blow up tomorrow and we're all gone in a microinstant.

If it's the latter, then I say smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

p.s. and FUCK all sensationalist headlines everywhere

[California_Republic]

7. Agreed. Sounds like 'end times '.

[tymorial]

8. Indeed

The histrionics in hyperbolic headlines are ridiculous. Some news media providers are worse than others but they all engage and sensationalism and clickbait journalism .

Nothing infuriates me more than native advertising. News providers have no liability if you click on one of those redirects and end up with a virus. More and more news providers have increased the volume of sponsored content as a means to generate revenue because everyone is sick of shitteous ads and trackers that display advertising based upon your browsing patterns. I loathe Google for that.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

22. MaryBourg: What you said was so spot-on regarding our media...

I'm saving it to my "good quotes" file. Where does the adulteration end?

One could publish a dictionary filled only with words that have been abused so terribly that many should be retired from everyday speech.

Do our media outlets even have copy editors these days?

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[Bob Loblaw]

10. Way way bigger

than any sunspots during the Obama administration. Massive, beautiful, record sunspots. Believe me.

[tecelote]

17. +1

[ToxMarz]

11. The sun is just doing what the sun does, it hasn't "gone wrong"

[MadLinguist]

14. yeah, Galileo was interested in this activity and wrote about it. Breaking News back then...

[trof]

12. We're all gonna die.

Sooner or later.
I'm pretty sure.

[Binkie The Clown]

16. OMG!!! Chicken Little was right all along!@!!!!! n/t

[liberalnarb]

18. Sorry, tired here, I'm taking it this is nothing to worry about?

[marybourg]

19. You're taking it correctly. nt

[annabanana]

20. So. Ol' Sol is coming for us at last...

Ol' Sol



or

old S.O.L.

[vkkv]

21. Okie Doke

[Nitram]

23. "The Sun has gone wrong?" Melodramatic clickbait.

The 11-year solar cycle is a very approximate perceived pattern that has always subject to significant exceptions.