Solar and Aurora Activity Chat

[yamkin]

Vietnam May Be Affected By Many Geomagnetic Storms

VietNamNet Bridge – The Institute of Geophysics has forecast that this year Vietnam will be impacted by around 45 geomagnetic storms, with the intensity up to the highest level (G5).

The Institute’s Dr. Ha Duyen Chau says that geomagnetic storms on March 7 to 9 were not very strong and they did not make impact on the earth. However, the earth is under threat by many geomagnetic storms which will occur this year.

In previous years, the number of geomagnetic storms was around 17-20 a year, but this year it may reach 40 to 45, with the maxima intensity, up to 700nT, Dr. Chau warns.

Dr. Chau says that geomagnetic storms of 200nT upwards will harm human’s health. There are magnetism cells in bone, heart, and brain; so people who are affected with cardiovascular, nervous and bone diseases are very sensitive to geomagnetic storms.

In industry, geomagnetic storms can affect the operation of transformer stations.

In 2001, magnetism of up to over 10 Amps was measured at many transformer stations in Hanoi and HCM City because of geomagnetic storms.

Dr. Chau says that in Russia, the number of people who died by cardiovascular diseases increased by 30 percent in the years with strong geomagnetic storms.

The scientist advises people who are committed with cardiovascular, nervous and bone diseases to be cautious in the days of geomagnetic storms, especially when they drive and work above.

Vietnam has four stations which can discover solar storms based in the provinces of Lao Cai, Hanoi, Lam Dong and Bac Lieu. These stations collect data and transfer to the Institute of Geophysics to analyze.

A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the earth's magnetosphere caused by a disturbance in the interplanetary medium. A geomagnetic storm is a major component of space weather and provides the input for many other components of space weather.

A geomagnetic storm is caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field which interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. The increase in the solar wind pressure initially compresses the magnetosphere and the solar wind magnetic field will interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and transfer an increased amount of energy into the magnetosphere.

Both interactions cause an increase in movement of plasma through the magnetosphere and an increase in electric current in the magnetosphere and ionosphere.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/science-technology/19982/vietnam-may-be-affected-by-many-geomagnetic-storms.html

[Methuselah]

What, may I ask, is a 'magnetism cell'???

[laserguy]

What, may I ask, is a 'magnetism cell'???

Dunno,but prisoners might find it "attractive".

[yamkin]

What, may I ask, is a 'magnetism cell'???

It's amazing what google search engine offers when used!!

http://www.affs.org/...omagnetism.html

http://www.indianetzone.com/26/affect_magnets_human_metabolism.htm

Edited March 18, 2012 by yamkin

[pottyprof]

It's the same mechanism that makes an MRI possible.

That article seems to be very misleading.. Surely, if it's to be believed then we should have died off before we had chance to develop given how often we get X-class flares over time.

[john pike]

i am no expert on this but the links do state it can be

dangerous for people of poor health

Heart and Geomagnetic Activity

The link between the heart attacks and the geomagnetic activity is discovered by the scientists of the National Geophysics Research Institute, Hyderabad. The fluctuations in earth`s magnetic field are caused by solar flare and sunspot activity. These scientists also noticed that heart attack cases generally occurred during geomagnetic disturbances showing rapid fluctuations and pulsations. These pulsatory fields react with human heart or brain electrical potential and cause heart attacks or psychiatric disturbances in persons who are not otherwise in perfect shape and condition.

from

http://www.indianetzone.com/26/affect_magnets_human_metabolism.htm

plus

The scientist advises people who are committed with cardiovascular, nervous and bone diseases to be cautious in the days of geomagnetic storms, especially when they drive and work above.

from

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/science-technology/19982/vietnam-may-be-affected-by-many-geomagnetic-storms.html

[Polar Maritime]

FARSIDE CME: A spectacular CME rocketed away from the sun's northwestern limb during the early hours of March 18th: movie. The probable source was old sunspot AR1429, still active as it transits the far side of the sun. Earth will not be affected by the cloud.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: For the third day in a row, a high-speed solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field. The jostling is not enough to cause a full-fledged geomagnetic storm, but some nice intermittent auroras are flickering around the Arctic Circle. In the northern village of Ivujivik, Nunavik, Quebec, Sylvain Serre photographed an outburst on March 18th:

"What an incredible night," says Serre. "The Northern Lights weren't there when I first went outside, but after 5 minutes they were so strong that I had to try new settings for my camera."

NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of geomagnetic activity during the next 24 hours. High-latittude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras as the solar wind continues to blow. Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Jónína Óskarsdóttir of Faskrudsfjordur, Iceland; from Peter Scott of Durness, Scotland, UK; from Francis Anderson of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories Canada; from Chad Blakley of Abisko National Park, Sweden; from Iurie Belegurschi of Iceland; from Dirk Obudzinski of Cleary Summit, Alaska; from Petra Schneider of Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland; from Greg Kretovic of AuTrain, Michigan;

[Methuselah]

It's the same mechanism that makes an MRI possible.

That article seems to be very misleading.. Surely, if it's to be believed then we should have died off before we had chance to develop given how often we get X-class flares over time.

That was what I was getting at. If that article is true there must be a record of measurably increased mortality in and around Solar storms. Every time there's been a Solar storm. Is there? And why don't people who visit Glastonbury die as a result of interactions with the speakers' magnetic fields? There are so many of magnetism locally far stronger than what's associated with Solar storms that I find the whole hypothesis dubious...

And, aye Yamkin, Google is a marvellous tool. But then, so is an ability to usually distinguish between science and pseudo-science...

[yamkin]

That was what I was getting at. If that article is true there must be a record of measurably increased mortality in and around Solar storms. Every time there's been a Solar storm. Is there? And why don't people who visit Glastonbury die as a result of interactions with the speakers' magnetic fields? There are so many of magnetism locally far stronger than what's associated with Solar storms that I find the whole hypothesis dubious...

And, aye Yamkin, Google is a marvellous tool. But then, so is an ability to usually distinguish between science and pseudo-science...

mri scan use NON ionizing radiation

A computed tomography (CT) scanner uses X-rays, a type of ionizing radiation, to acquire images, making it a good tool for examining tissue composed of elements of a higher atomic number than the tissue surrounding them, such as bone and calcifications (calcium based) within the body (carbon based flesh), or of structures (vessels, bowel). MRI, on the other hand, uses non-ionizing radio frequency (RF) signals to acquire its images and is best suited for soft tissue (although MRI can also be used to acquire images of bones, teeth^[44] and even fossils^[45]).

http://en.wikipedia....sonance_imaging

Ionizing & Non-Ionizing Radiation

http://www.epa.gov/r..._nonionize.html

this shows the two differences

http://www.breadandb...ce.com/SSTA.pdf

see extracts below

page 18

During a solar storm, a small amount of very energetic protons and ions with energy levels exceeding 500 MeV are

contained in the SPE particle stream. These very energetic solar cosmic rays have the potential of creating a particle

stream that travels down to the planet’s surface. If an individual is at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the

nuclear particle enters the human body, it can produce very damaging effects. If the particle thermalizes within the

nervous system, the release of intense ionization can cause an electrical instability in the heart and result in a Sudden

Cardiac Death. If the ionization cite is the brain, it can produce permanent dementia.25 If the ionization occurs in

cells, generally the cells are destroyed and the human immune system identifies and discard these cells as a normal

function. But sometimes, the damage will result in a mutation, which can lead to cancer, such as leukemia.

page 20

Bottomline - Great solar storms may produce a doubling of the natural daily death rates. This effect will primarily

target senior citizens older than 50 years. The magnetic pulse threat will generally take the form of acute

myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and cerebral vascular accidents (strokes). Expedient access to proper medical

treatment has the potential of substantially lower those deaths in future Great solar storms. The nuclear particle

threat will generally take the form of sudden cardiac death (cardiac arrest).

Also,

Otto et al (1982). In a survey of 66,900 cases of death from ischaemic heart disease

increased geomagnetic field, and increased geomagnetic storms were positively and

significantly related to death from ischaemic heart disease.

http://www.electric-...neticfields.pdf

produced by

Jonathan P. Ward and Denis L. Henshaw

H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK

pseudo science?

http://www.hese-proj...niemr/index.php

oh and regarding speakers...

they use non ionising radiation as well

if you feel this information is non factual based please feel free

to comment and post your own evidence to back it up.

Edited March 19, 2012 by yamkin

[pottyprof]

mri scan use NON ionizing radiation

Yes I know that but I was referring to the "magnetic cell". The MRI scanner aligns the molecules inside the body and then releases them. Interesting little machine...

What most of those links fail to say is that there have been huge flares in the past and we are still here. Most of the high energy particles are absorbed in the atmosphere. Your body is exposed to high energy particles regularly and is a normal part of life on earth. Unless we intend on wearing a lead suit, I suggest we just accept it and move on. It makes no difference how many websites these details get placed on, there is sod all we can do about it. I suppose we can sue the airlines in years to come for exposing us to a higher dose of X-rays and not providing us with a foil hat ?

While the science is good to understand, some people with a little knowledge make it a dangerous world....

[Polar Maritime]

FIRST DAY OF NORTHERN SPRING: The seasons are changing. Today, March 20th, the sun crossed the celestial equator heading north. This marks the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere and Autumn in the southern hemisphere. At this time of year, day and night are of nearly equal length, hence the name "equinox" (equal night).

Good news for sky watchers: Spring is aurora season. For reasons not fully understood by researchers, the weeks around equinoxes are prone to Northern Lights. "With the exception of one cloudy night we have now seen the auroras 16 nights in a row," reports aurora tour guide Chad Blakley from the Abisko National Park in Sweden. "What a season!" He snapped this picture on March 19th:

"I combined some of the photos to make a time-lapse movie," says Blakley. "It was another great night in Abisko!"

NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of polar geomagnetic storms tonight. The odds of auroras, however, might be even better. Happy Equinox! Aurora alerts: text, phone.

[pottyprof]

On March 12 and 13, the magnetosphere simulation models showed an apparent reversal in the magnetopause. Could this be part of the doomsday conspiracy or is this something we are learning about the effects of the sun?

Bit of decent music too...

About 4 hours of images are missing after the apparent reversal on the 13th, however it is possible the simulation model was been reset at that time.

[Polar Maritime]

FARSIDE CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) blasted away from the farside of the sun on March 21st at 0740 UT. SOHO photographed the cloud expanding at 1550 km/s (3.5 million mph). The source of the CME is probably old sunspot AR1429, still active as it transits the farside.

FIRST AURORAS OF SPRING: It's a well-known scientific fact that equinoxes favor auroras. True to form, March 20th began with the vernal equinox and ended with this outburst of Spring-green over Tromsø, Norway:

"It was an absolutely magic moment in a magic place," says photographer Ole C. Salomonsen. "The temperature was -13 C and I was almost alone: The tracks in the snow are from a fox which was there just before me. The auroras were mostly moderate, but at times they burst into strong lightshows, as shown above. It was a beautiful display." Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Bernt Olsen of Simavika, Tromsø, Norway; from Frank Olsen of Sommarøy / Tromsø, Norway; from Arild Heitmann of Tennevik River, Troms, Norway; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish-Lapland; from Einar Halvorsrud of Alta, Norway; from Nenne Åman of Arjeplog, northern Sweden

Edited March 21, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

http://vimeo.com/38758561

[Polar Maritime]

SPRING GREEN: Northern Lights continue to flicker around the Arctic Circle despite waning solar wind speeds. What's keeping them going? Answer: Equinoxes favor auroras. "I love March! We've seen auroras for four straight nights," says Einar Halvorsrud, who sends this picture from Alta, Norway:

"This short explosion of lights on March 21st lasted for about 8 minutes," says Halvorsrud. "It was a beautiful sight with auroras all over the sky, in every direction."

NOAA forecasters estimate a 15% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on March 22nd. Considering the season, however, a full-fledged storm might not be necessary. Stay tuned for auroras. Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Bernt Olsen of Simavika, Tromsø, Norway; from Frank Olsen of Sommarøy / Tromsø, Norway; from Arild Heitmann of Tennevik River, Troms, Norway; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish-Lapland; from Einar Halvorsrud of Alta, Norway; from Nenne Åman of Arjeplog, northern Sweden; from Andy Keen of Inari, Finland; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish-Lapland; from Dirk Obudzinski of Snowshoe Creek, Alaska;

[Methuselah]

I'm presuming that the equinoctal increased frequency of aurorae is a result of the greater angle of incidence between the incoming particles and Earth's magnetic field lines?

[Polar Maritime]

I'm presuming that the equinoctal increased frequency of aurorae is a result of the greater angle of incidence between the incoming particles and Earth's magnetic field lines?

Im no expert on this subject, but yes.

In simple terms, the Earths tilt must effect Earths magnetic field during the equinox. But scientists are finding it difficult to find evidence for this, so they still call it a mystery...

Edited March 22, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[Crepuscular Ray]

This, from NASA, about the effects in the upper atmosphere of the solar storms of early March.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/22mar_saber

[Polar Maritime]

Such outbursts are called auroral substorms and they have long puzzled space physicists. Often sighted in springtime, "substorms erupt with little warning and sometimes shocking intensity," says UCLA space physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos. "They're a big mystery."

SOLAR STORM HEATS UP EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE: A flurry of solar activity in early March dumped enough heat in Earth's upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years. The heat has since dissipated, but there's more to come as the solar cycle intensifies. [full story] [

] Edited March 23, 2012 by Polar Maritime

[yamkin]

SOLAR FLARE ALERT:

A moderate solar flare reaching M1.0 is currently in progress.

[yamkin]

X-RAY FLUX DATA IS BACK AND M FLARE FROM OLD REGION 1431--23RD MARCH 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzaGNSRZv78&feature

Edited March 23, 2012 by yamkin

[Essexwader]

Stone age man using his stone age telescope would have immediately gathered his mates to bring in some emergency meat supplies!!!!!!!!!!!

[Polar Maritime]

INCREDIBLE SUNSPOT AR1429: Big sunspot AR1429, the source of so many

and geomagnetic storms earlier this month, is still erupting. The active region produced a significant coronal mass ejection on March 24th at 00:39 UT: movie. Because of the sunspot's location on the farside of the sun, this particular CME will not hit Earth. An animated forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab shows the trajectory of the expanding cloud:

The leading edge of the CME is expected to arrive at the STEREO-B spacecraft on March 25th at 13:08 UT (+/- 7 hours). None of the inner planets will be affected.

Since March began, sunspot AR1429 has propelled CMEs into every corner of the solar system, stirring up stormy space weather around every planet and spacecraft. If the sunspot remains active for another week or so, it will turn back toward Earth for a new round of geoeffective eruptions.

[Polar Maritime]

Great time laps here, the show starts at 1.05m in.

http://vimeo.com/39078923

[Polar Maritime]

NORTHERN LIGHTS OVER NEBRASKA: A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, causing magnetic unrest and auroras at high latitudes. Last night faint North Lights descended all the way south to Nebraska. Click to view a movie of the display, photographed by Chris Allington of Crofton, NE:

"I certainly didn't expect this tonight, but the plots were interesting enough to get me out and investigate the northern sky with the camera," says Allington. "Suprisingly, around 9:30pm local time I could see the color of the aurora on my camera so I decided to head to a wind farm near my house. The display got much more vibrant and lasted nearly 4 hours from 10pm to 2am. It's not often that auroras are hardly in the forecast and we see them as far south as NEBRASKA! "

The cause of the display was the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which tipped south and opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the light. More high-latitude auroras are possible tonight: NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of polar geomagnetic storms as the solar wind continues to blow. Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Chris Allington of Crofton, Nebraska; from Nenne Ã…man of Arjeplog Northern Sweden; from Randy Halverson of Kennebec, South Dakota; from Paul Martin of Ballintoy Harbour, Antrim coast, N.Ireland; from Claus Vogel of Pelly Crossing, Yukon; from David Done of Anzac, Alberta Canada; from Ray Mckenzie of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; from Dirk Obudzinski of Eagle Summit, Alaska; from Adrian Maricic of Loch Leven, Fife Scotland; from Mark Shaw of Dungiven, Northern Ireland

Adrian Maricic Image taken: Mar. 28, 2012 Location: Loch Leven, Fife Scotland Details: This was a good display, green rays shooting up, and is ongoing now! Edited March 28, 2012 by Polar Maritime