News release reports , Earth's magnetic field is not about to flip. Disputing reports of over 1 year ago stating the contrary

 

Earth's Magnetic Field is Not About to Flip, Like Previously Thought

Catherine Griffin

First Posted: Nov 24, 2015 11:09 AM EST

 

(Photo : Huapei Wang, with source files courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory/NOAA/DOD)

 

Earth's magnetic field is not about to flip. While the intensity of this field has weakened in the last couple hundred of years, researchers have found that this doesn't mean it's about to reverse.

 

Humans have lived through dips in magnetic field intensity before. However, there are debates about whether reversals of the magnetic field in the distant past had any connection to species extinctions. Today, a magnetic field reversal would have a huge impact due to one very important thing: technology. The magnetic field deflects the solar wind and cosmic rays. This means that with a weaker field, more radiation gets through which can disrupt power grids and satellite communications.
 
"The field may be decreasing rapidly, but we're not yet down to the long-term average," said Dennis Kent, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In 100 years, the field may even go back the other direction [in intensity]."

Read More Here

 

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Earth's Magnetic Field Flip Could Happen Sooner Than Expected

Changes measured by the Swarm satellite show that our magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster than originally predicted, especially over the Western Hemisphere

 

 

By Kelly Dickerson and LiveScience | July 9, 2014

 

Changes measured by the Swarm satellite over the past 6 months shows that Earth's magnetic field is changing. Shades of red show areas where it is strengthening, and shades of blue show areas that are weakening.
Credit: ESA/DTU

Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm.

 

The biggest weak spots in the magnetic field — which extends 370,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) above the planet's surface — have sprung up over the Western Hemisphere, while the field has strengthened over areas like the southern Indian Ocean, according to the magnetometers onboard the Swarm satellites — three separate satellites floating in tandem.

The scientists who conducted the study are still unsure why the magnetic field is weakening, but one likely reason is that Earth's magnetic poles are getting ready to flip, said Rune Floberghagen, the ESA's Swarm mission manager. In fact, the data suggest magnetic north is moving toward Siberia.
"Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred if not a few thousand years," Floberghagen told Live Science. "They have happened many times in the past."[50 Amazing Facts About Planet Earth]

Read More Here

A magnetic filament on the sun erupted hurling inky-black fragments of itself into space. CME expected this week.

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

GLANCING-BLOW CME EXPECTED THIS WEEK:

 

A magnetic filament on the sun erupted during the late hours of Nov. 15th, hurling inky-black fragments of itself into space. Shortly thereafter, a CME was observed racing away from the sun:

Storm track models from NOAA suggest that the CME will deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 18th or 19th. There is a 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the CME arrives.

Actually, the arrival of the CME could be the second strike. A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) is also expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 18th. CIRs are transition zones between fast- and slow-moving solar wind streams. Solar wind plasma piles up in these regions, producing density gradients and shock waves that do a good job of sparking auroras.

The double impact, CIR followed by CME, could produce a G1 or G2-class geomagnetic storm and bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Observers in northern-tier US states from Maine to Washington should be alert for colorful lights in the midnight sky

Swedish photographer captures sprawling sunspot complex, finds a spaceship hiding among its dark cores

GIANT SUNSPOT HIDES SPACESHIP: 

 

By Dr. Tony Phillips.

Sunspot AR2443 is so big, it is attracting the attention of astrophotographers around the world. Earlier today when Peter Rosén of Stockholm, Sweden, photographed the sprawling complex, he found a spaceship hiding among its dark cores. Seriously. Take a close look at the image below:

Can't find the spaceship? Click here and here. "It is the International Space Station," explains Rosén. "I caught it making a split-second transit of the giant sunspot."

Indeed, AR244 is huge. From end to end it measures almost 200,000 km. Many of the dark cores are as large as terrestrial continents--and a couple are as large as Earth itself. These dimensions make it an easy target for backyard solar telecopes.

Of greater interest is the sunspot's potential for explosive activity. The spotty complex has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M-class solar flares. Any such explosions will be geoeffective as the sunspot turns squarely toward Earth in the days ahead.

A gigantic hole in the sun's atmosphere has opened up and a broad stream of solar wind is flowing out of it.

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

ENORMOUS CORONAL HOLE:

 

A gigantic hole in the sun's atmosphere has opened up and a broad stream of solar wind is flowing out of it. This is called a "coronal hole." It is the deep blue-colored region in this extreme UV image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Coronal holes are places in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field unfurls and allows solar wind to escape. In the image above, the sun's magnetic field is traced by white curving lines. Outside the coronal hole, those magnetic fields curve back on themselves, trapping solar wind inside their loops. Inside the coronal hole, no such trapping occurs. Solar wind plasma is free to fly away as indicated by the white arrows.

For much of the next week, Earth's environment in space will be dominated by winds flowing from this broad hole. This should activate some beautiful Arctic auroras. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% of polar geomagnetic storms today as Earth moves deeper into the solar wind stream.

NASA's SDO Sees a Huge Coronal Hole Spread out Over Almost the Entire Northern Hemisphere of the Sun

nemesis maturity

Published on Oct 6, 2015

NASA's SDO Sees a Huge Coronal Hole Spread out Over Almost the Entire Northern Hemisphere of the Sun.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a picture of the sun on October 6, 2015, showing two huge coronal holes.

The larger coronal hole spread out over almost the entire northern hemisphere of the sun, covers an estimated 8 to 10-percent of the total solar surface, making it one of the largest polar holes scientists have observed in decades. Solar wind flowing from these two coronal holes should reach Earth on Oct 8-9.

A coronal hole is an area of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, where the magnetic field opens up and the material flows quickly out. This results in a cooler and less dense atmosphere than the surrounding areas.

Coronal holes spew out fast solar wind, probably traveling at about 400-500 miles per second. This is roughly twice the speed of the normal solar wind, the solar material that is constantly streaming off the sun in every direction to fill the solar system.

These images were taken by NASA's SDO solar spacecraft
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/

Images credit: NASA/SDO and SOHO
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/l...
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/r...

Coronal hole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal...

What is a coronal hole?
http://www.ips.gov.au/Educational/2/1/5
http://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/he...

Solar Cycle 24 is near its peak right now and it continues to rank among the weakest on record, says Ron Turner of Analytic Services, Inc.

Space Weather
by Dr. Tony Phillips.

SOLAR 'MINI-MAX':

Last month at the Space Weather Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, solar cycle expert Doug Biesecker of NOAA announced that "Solar Maximum is here, finally." According to his analysis, the sunspot number for Solar Cycle 24 is near its peak right now.

Spoiler: It's not very impressive. "This solar cycle continues to rank among the weakest on record," says Workshop attendee Ron Turner of Analytic Services, Inc. To illustrate the point, he plotted the smoothed sunspot number of Cycle 24 vs. the previous 23 cycles since 1755:

In the composite plot, Cycle 24 is traced in red. Only a few cycles since the 18th century have have had lower sunspot counts. For this reason, many researchers have started calling the ongoing peak a "Mini-Max."

"By all Earth-based measures of geomagnetic and geoeffective solar activity, this cycle has been extremely quiet," notes Turner. "However, Doug Biesecker has presented several charts showing that most large events such as strong flares and significant geomagnetic storms occur in the declining phase of the solar cycle."

In other words, there is still a chance for significant solar activity in the months and years ahead. Let's just hope it is not too significant.

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The sun's atmosphere is split down the middle by a canyon-shaped coronal hole, which is almost directly facing Earth

Earth Watch Report  -  Solar Activity

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

CORONAL CANYON:

Today, the sun's atmosphere is split down the middle by a canyon-shaped coronal hole. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the chasm, which is almost directly facing Earth:

Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. This hole is straddling the sun's equator so the solar wind stream emerging from it will intersect Earth's orbit. ETA: May 16-17. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on those dates.

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Huge ‘coronal hole’ spotted on Sun

Earth Watch Report  -  Solar Activity

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

SOUTHERN CORONAL HOLE:

Imagine what it would be like if, from time to time, a hole opened up in Earth's atmosphere and air went blowing out into space. On the sun, this happens all the time. The openings are called "coronal holes." NASA's Solar Dynamics Obervatory is monitoring one right now; it is the dark wedge-shaped region in this extreme ultraviolet image of the sun's southern hemisphere:

Coronal holes are places in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field bends back and allows gas to escape. From such openings, solar wind blows out into space. A stream of solar wind flowing from this particular coronal hole could reach Earth on May 11-12, sparking auroras when it arrives. On the other hand, the stream might sail south of our planet, delivering only a glancing blow. Stay tuned for updates.

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Huge square-shaped ‘coronal hole’ spotted on Sun (VIDEO)

Published time: May 13, 2014 12:00

NASA / SDO / GODDARD SPACE CENTER

A gigantic square hole has been video-captured on the Sun’s surface by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The particularly large monstrosity, known as a “coronal hole”, is an indicator of solar winds ejected out of the star at insane speeds.

Read More and Watch Video Here

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An X-class solar flare on April 25th irradiated Earth's upper atmosphere with extreme ultraviolet radiation, causing a widespread blackout of shortwave radio transmissions.

 Space Weather. com

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

RADIO BLACKOUT:

An X-class solar flare on April 25th irradiated Earth's upper atmosphere with extreme ultraviolet radiation. Waves of ionization rippled around the dayside of the planet, causing a widespread blackout of shortwave radio transmissions. Radio astronomer Dick Flagg recorded the event at his observatory at the Windward Community College on Oahu:

"This is a dynamic spectrum," explains Flagg. "The vertical axis is frequency (MHz) and the horizontal axis is time (UTC)." All of the horizontal lines corresponding to terrestrial radio stations vanished in the aftermath of the flare.

The active region responsible for the flare rotated off the solar disk yesterday, so even if it flares again, another radio blackout is unlikely this weekend. NOAA forecasters estimate the odds of an X-flare on April 26th to be a scant 1%.

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Space .com

Sun Unleashes Major Solar Flare (Video)

By Tariq Malik, Managing Editor   |   April 25, 2014 06:47am ET

An X1.3-class solar flare (far right) erupts from the surface of the sun on April 24, 2014 EDT (April 25 GMT).
Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

View full size image

X-class flares top the scale with the most energy and potential to disrupt communications on Earth. See how solar flares compare to each other in this Space.com inforgraphic.
Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

View full size image

The sun erupted with a massive solar flare late Thursday (April 24), triggering a temporary communications blackout on some parts of Earth.

The powerful flare peaked at 8:27 p.m. EDT Thursday (0027 April 25 GMT), and ranked as an X1.3-class solar storm, one of the strongest types of flares the sun can experience, according to a report from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center. NASA's sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory captured video of the intense solar flare in several difference wavelengths.
The solar flare erupted from an active sunspot region known as Region 2035 located on the far western side (or limb) of the sun as seen from Earth. Because of its position, the flare sparked a high-frequency radio blackout for about an hour on the daytime side of Earth, most likely over the Pacific Ocean and Eastern Pacific Rim, according to the SWPC update. [Photos: The Biggest Solar Flares of 2014]

Read More and Watch Video Here

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Rare Ripple in Earth's Magnetic Field Occurred During Last X1 Solar Flare!

DAHBOO77

Published on Mar 31, 2014

More info at links:

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2014...

http://spaceweather.com/

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Space Weather

by Dr. Tony Phillips.

IMPULSIVE SOLAR FLARE SCRAMBLES RADIO SIGNALS:

On Saturday, March 29th, the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2017 erupted, producing a brief but intense X1-class solar flare. A flash of extreme UV radiation sent waves of ionization rippling through Earth's upper atmosphere and disturbed the normal propagation of terrestrial radio transmissions. Radio engineer Stan Nelson of Roswell, NM, was monitoring WWV at 20 MHz when the signal wobbled then disappeared entirely for several minutes:

"The Doppler shift of the WWV signal (the 'wobble' just before the blackout) was nearly 12 Hz, the most I have ever seen," says Nelson.

The flare not only blacked out radio signals, but also produced some radio signals of its own. The explosion above sunspot AR2017 sent shock waves racing through the sun's atmosphere at speeds as high as 4800 km/s (11 million mph). Radio emissions stimulated by those shocks crossed the 93 million mile divide to Earth, causing shortwave radio receivers to roar with static. Here is a plot of the outburst detected by Nelson using a 20.1 MHz RadioJove receiver. Elsewhere, strong bursts were recorded at frequencies as high as 2800 MHz. It was a very broad band event.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a beautiful movie of the flare:

The flash you just saw was extreme UV radiation, the type of radiation that ionizes the upper layers of our atmosphere. In this case, the ionizing action of the flare led to a rare magnetic crochet, measuring 17 nT at the magnetometer in Boulder, Colorado.

A magnetic crochet is a ripple in Earth's magnetic field caused by electrical currents flowing in air 60 km to 100 km above our heads. Unlike geomagnetic disturbances that arrive with CMEs days after a flare, a magnetic crochet occurs while the flare is in progress. They tend to occur during fast impulsive flares like this one.

The magnetic field of sunspot AR2017 is decaying now, but it still poses a threat for eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of M-class flares and a 20% chance of X-class flares on March 31st.

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Destructive solar blasts narrowly missed Earth in 2012: scientists

The Sydney Morning Herald

March 20, 2014

Laila Kearney

Fierce solar blasts that could have badly damaged electrical grids and disabled satellites in space narrowly missed Earth in 2012, researchers say.

The bursts would have wreaked havoc on the Earth's magnetic field, matching the severity of the 1859 Carrington event, the largest solar magnetic storm ever reported on the planet. That blast knocked out the telegraph system across the United States, according to University of California, Berkeley research physicist Janet Luhmann.

"Had it hit Earth, it probably would have been like the big one in 1859, but the effect today, with our modern technologies, would have been tremendous," Luhmann said.

A series of images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory show the first moments of an X-class significant solar flare in different wavelengths of light. Flares are often related to coronal mass ejections. Photo: Reuters

A 2013 study estimated a solar storm like the Carrington Event could take a $US2.6 trillion bite out of the current global economy.

Massive bursts of solar wind and magnetic fields, shot into space on July 23, 2012, would have been aimed directly at Earth if they had happened nine days earlier, Luhmann said.

Read More and Watch Video Here

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