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Coronal mass ejection will reach Earth on November 12, 2011

November 11, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

As it looks, the people of the Space Weather Prediction Center of NOAA have put new Data into their models and have reached a new conclusion, that there is indeed a coronal mass ejection (CME) that is on its way to Earth and will reach it on November 12, 2011 around 07:16 UTC (± 6 hours).

NOAA expects a minor geomagnetic storm of level G1 – minor.

The video shows two CME plasma clouds. The first, I am not sure which event caused it. The second is from the solar flare of class M1.1 of November 12, 2011. The video is based on the online-animation from NOAA, which is based on JavaScript and thus cannot be embedded properly.

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M1.1 class flare from active region 1343

November 9, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Active region 1343 has produced a class M1.1 flare.

The flare and the associated coronal mass ejection (CME) are clearly visible in the video. The CME is not Earth directed, however, at least that’s the latest forecast from Goddard Space Weather Lab.

The video covers almost a 22 hour period from 2011-11-08 16:19:08 to 2011-11-09 14:08:20 UTC. The wavelength is AIA 304 Å, coordinates of the flare are N28E39 and the magnetic configuration (Hale) for the active region is α, according to SolarSoft,

(Source: Helioviewer – English)

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Tags: coronal mass ejection, solar flare
Categories: Sun

Giant filament discovered by Stereo-B

November 9, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - Position of the satellites Stereo-A and Stereo-B on November 9, 2011 (Source: NASA)

The Stereo Satellites – Stereo-A and Stereo-B – are in an orbit around the Sun at roughly the same distance as the Earth. The positions of Stereo-A is ahead and that of Stereo-B behind the position of the Earth. The orbits allow to see the Sun at the same moment from different perspectives (see image 1). The mission of Stereo is to study coronal mass ejections (CME) and solar wind.

The positions of the Stereo Satellites allow to see region of the sun, that are not yet or no longer visible from the Earth, and because the Sun is spinning around its axis, it is possible to see what is happening on the sun before the phenomenon is visible from Earth.

November 8, 2011 Stereo-B has discovered a giant filament on the Sun. Because the Sun is rotating around its axis the filament was not yet visible from Earth.

A filament is a mass of plasma which is colder than the plasma that surrounds it – thus it seems darker in certain wavelengths. It is suspended above the Sun by the Sun’s magnetic fields and can exist for weeks. However, filaments are not stable and the can dissolve at any moment. When a solar filament dissolves, it can create a filament eruption and a coronal mass ejection.

Coronal mass ejections can lead to disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field reaching up to strong geomagnetic storms.

These are the images taken by Stereo-B on November 8, 2011. The filament is the dark structure which extends from the rim of the Sun on the left upper hand almost to the center of the Sun:

(more…)

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Tags: coronal mass ejection, filament eruption
Categories: Sun

Several solar flares of M and C class from active region 1339

November 6, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - Solar flare of class C1.6 showing some interesting structures (Source: SolarSoft)

Yesterday and today active region 1339 has produced five solar flares of M class and seven of C class. According to my information, none of the flares was associated with a coronal mass ejection.

Image 1 shows the solar flare of class C1.6 of November 6, 2011. The flare started at 04:21:00 and ended 04:32:00 hours. It peaked at 04:26:00 hours (all times are UTC).

The image was taken on a wavelength of 171 Å at 04:24:12 hours. It is the moment (No. 1 in the image) when the eruption became visible (3) and approximately one minute before the flare reached its peak (2).

Why this difference? The peak of a flare – and with it its class – are determined by measurements of the intensity of the radiation in the wavelength band from 1 Å to 8 Å (x-rays), however, a solar flare emits radiates across the electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves, including the ultraviolet, infrared and visible spectra.

For this reason it is possible that a solar flare is not big, meaning does have a small class like C, and yet can emit lots of electromagnetic energy (at other wavelength and times). Consequently, the class of the flare only is an indication of the energy contained in a flare, but does not show all its energy.

In image 1 there are other interesting structures.

(more…)

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Tags: coronal loop, flux tube, solar flare
Categories: Sun

Solar flare of class X1.9 coming from active region 1339

November 4, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

The active region 1339 was at the origin of a solar flare of class X1.9 on November 3, 2011. The eruption started on 20:16 hours and ended on 20:32 hours. It reached its maximum on 20:27 hours (all times are UTC).

The Space Weather Prediction Center of NOAA thinks that there could be more X-class flares in the coming days. The probability for another X-class flare in the days from 4. to 6. November is at 20 percent for each day, and at 75 percent for M-class flares.

Image 1 - Location of the solar flare of class X1,9 of November 3, 2011 (Source: Solar Monitor)

A coronal mass ejection (CME) was associated with this solar eruption. The first forecasts of Goddard Space Weather Lab, which is a part of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), shows that the EMC will not reach Earth (the small yellow circle in the video), however, the planets Venus and Mercury will be affected. I think that at this moment the plasma cloud has already passed both planets if the forecasts were correct.

(more…)

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Tags: active region, coronal mass ejection, solar flare
Categories: Sun

Active Region 1339 is very active

November 3, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - HMI Intensigram of the sun with active region 1339 (Source: Solar Dynamics Observatory)

Two days ago, a new active region, active region (AR) 1339, has appeared on the north-eastern edge of the visible solar disc.

It is a region of enormous dimensions, of width of 40’000 kilometres and double that in length (click to see a larger version of image 1).

The magnetic configuration of today of AR 1339 according to Hale is βγ, which means that there is an increased potential for M-class flares, as well as a small potential for X-class flares. For the days from November 3 to 5, the probability of M-class flares if at 50 percent for each day and at 5 percent for X-class flares, according to forecasts from NOAA.

Yesterday AR 1339 produced seven flares, one of which was of class M and six were of class C and today it already has produced six flares, one M-class and five C-class.

The solar flare of class M (M4,3) of yesterday was associated with a coronal mass ejection which will reach Earth on November 5, however, it will not cause a geomagnetic storm, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

It is going to be interesting to see how this region is going to develop, whether it will grow, shrink or stay the same size and whether the potential for X class flares will increase or not. Many active region have the peak of their activity early on in their live.

Image 2 shows all flares of the last two days including those from active region 1339: (more…)

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Tags: coronal mass ejection, solar flare
Categories: Sun

How planet Mars could have lost its magnetic field

November 2, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - The topographic dichotomy of Mars (Source: Wikipedia)

The red planet, Mars, does not have a global magnetic field as the Earth does, and, as a consequence, there is no protection from solar wind or coronal mass ejections.

Scientists think that this was not always the case and that Mars had had a global magnetic field, but that this was destroyed in a catastrophic event.

Whoever takes a look at the geography of planet Mars will note that the topography in the northern hemisphere is markedly different from the topography in the southern hemisphere. This phenomenon is called the topographical dichotomy of Mars (image 1).

In the north plains dominate and there are little impact craters (blue region in image 1). In the south mountains dominate and there are many impact craters. The two hemispheres also have a difference in elevation. The south is on average one to three kilometres higher than the north. The average thickness of the crust is 32 kilometres in the north and 58 kilometres in the south. The region in the northern hemisphere covers around one-third of the surface of the planet.

How did this topography come into being? That is not clear, but there are three major theories about the subject: The single impact theory, the multiple impact theory and the endogenous process theory.

Here only the single impact theory will be discussed. Other models how the dichotomy was created are discussed in [2].

There are three major critiques of this theory. The first, that the relevant energy of such an impact would have disturbed the planet enough to wipe out all evidence of this event, the second, that all the impact craters are circular, with the exception of those with a highly oblique impact angle, and the third, is the absence of any crustal thickening, which is typical for smaller impacts, around the rim of the basin.

In an article from 2008 in Nature with the title Mega-impact formation of the Mars hemispheric dichotomy[1], the authors describe a possible solution which explains the dichotomy and responds to the criticisms.

(more…)

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Tags: Mars, planets, solar system
Categories: Geography, Geologoy, Planetary Sciences

Activity of the Tanganasoga volcano of El Hierro

November 2, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - Seismicity at El Hierro during the last three days (Source: IGN)

In the last 24 hours the seismicity at El Hierro has increased considerably. Today up to 12:00 hours there were 64 earthquakes, among which were two of a magnitude of greater or equal to M4 (4 and 4,3).

Almost all of the earthquakes are located in the same area of El Golfo, north-west of Frontera and in a depth of between 17 and 23 Kilometres. With two exceptions, a M1,9 quake in 39 km depth and a M1,7 quake in 9 km depth. Four earthquakes were felt by the population.

Image 1 shows were the earthquakes that happened during the last three days are located. Those of the last 12 hours are marked red. The pink rhombus shows the last event, but this map here is not updated.

It is possible that a new vent will open up in the north, but it is not clear when and where. It could be on land or below the sea.

My belief is, that this is not the same situation as the one in the south of the island, at La Restinga, where a submarine eruption is quietly happening. An eruption in the north could be much more violent – but that is just a feeling, I do not have information in this respect. However, Diario El Hierro writes that an analysis of the pyroclasts showed ”clear evidence” of e major explosive potential (Spanish):

The pyroclasts that were found in the waters of La Restinga show “clear evidence” of a major explosive potential, that hasn’t been mentioned until now in public by anyone”. This is what a report admits that Diario El Hierro had access to and which was elaborated by the professor of Petrology and Geochemistry of the University of Barcelona, Domingo Gimeno Torrente.

The professor as well added, that the material “doesn’t show the proper characteristics of one of type surtseyan, which is the scenario mentioned by the commission of scientific follow-up”.

According to the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN) an increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions diffused into the atmosphere by the volcanic edifice of El Hierro to 1044 ± 31 tons per day was measured. This is the highest value observed since the start of the eruption at El Hierro.

What is Tanganasoga? It is an old volcanic crater in the region of El Golfo: (more…)

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Tags: Canary Islands, El Hierro, Spain
Categories: Vulcanology

Activity of Hudson volcano – Alert level lowered to yellow

November 2, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - Hudson volcano, November 1 - low activity (Source: prensa.cl)

The volcanic alert level is YELLOW – LEVEL 4: CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR OF THE VOLCANO.

According to the report No 29 (Spanish) of SERNAGEOMIN there are indications that the minor eruption that began on October 26 has ceased, however, the experts think that this “episode possibly forms part of a greater process that has just initiated”. The registered signals indicate that an important intrusion of magma occurred and that the magmatic system is developing processes of de-gasification and vesiculation which could lead to a disequilibrium and to a major eruption, in a time that is not clearly defined.

The signal of the tremor was of two types. One continuous signal, with an oscillating amplitude and a dominating frequency of around 1,8 Hz and a signal of short pulses with a dominating frequency of 1,3 Hz, apparently occurring at greater depth than the first. These tremor signals are possibly associated with dynamic processes in the magma column at depth and with the excitation of the hydrothermal system at the surface.

Four explosives events were registered during the morning of November 1 (05:50; 06:55; 10:57 y 12:47 hours), the most significant at 06:55 hours, all of which were associated with episodes of tremor and emission of ash. However, the satellite images of MODIS – TERRA taken 10:58 did not show an active plume.

Writes SERNAGEOMIN:

We emphasize that in accord with the evolution of the activity, the alert level may be increased at any time.

(Source: SERNAGEOMIN, prensa.cl – Spanish)

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Tags: Chile, Hudson
Categories: Vulcanology

Solar flare of class M1.4 on 31.10.2011

November 1, 2011 Posted by Parvaneh

Image 1 - Solar flare of class M1.4 on 31.10.2011 - wavelength 304 A (Source: SDO)

This solar flare was the second of two of class M yesterday, after the one of class M1.1 which took place between 14:55 and 15:27 with the maximum reached at 15:08 UTC. The M1.4 solar flare had started at 17:21 and ended at 18:50, reaching its maximum at 18:08 hours UTC.

For the moment neither flare has been associated with an active region, but both originated at the same region at the north-western rim of the visible solar disk (see image 1, click to see a enlarge the image).

The events have provoked a NOAA Radio Blackout warning of level R1 – Minor in the morning of November 1 2011, but at this time it is already over.

Image 1 shows the flare at 17:41:33 hours UTC, a few minutes after it began and 27 minutes before it reached its maximum. The part that is a bit special about this picture is the thing that looks like an ejection of material (plasma), perpendicular to the surface of the sun and in pulses (enlarge image 1 to see the phenomenon). I didn’t find this phenomenon on other frequencies, it seems to be visible on AIA 304 Å only. I am not sure that I know what this is.

(Source: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) – English)

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Tags: coronal mass ejection, solar flare
Categories: Sun