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Solar Flare Ratings

October 14, 2008

We’re up to our eye balls in opinion polls about the November presidential election. Who has time for ranking solar flares, as if we could? Well, we can, and you don’t have to. Solar flares get either a C rating (light), M (for moderate) or X (most powerful). And then we have a number beside the letter which gives an even further modification of the solar flare: ie. X4! That’s not a car or SUV!

Who Wants Cheaper Auto Insurance?

Solar flares create sunspots and we’re not talking a minor zit here!

Most sunspots are larger than the earth! These magnetic storms are a blemish on the sun’s surface and we can detect them because these sun spots are about 1,500 degrees C cooler than the resst of the sun (5,800 degress C). We’re talking hot hot hot! :-)

Since Galileo invented the telescope in 1610 we have been monitoring these soalr flares and sun spots which grow and diminish over eleven year cycles. There’s a silent time and a violent time. We’ve been able to count on it for what is now the 24th eleven year cycle that is to reach it’s peak in, would you believe- 2012? What these 24 cycles have shown us is that there a 96% correspondence between sunspots and overall solar activity.

The year 2005 was an exception to the 96% rule.

Sunspot #720 developed on January 17, 2005 (in cycle #23) and it was an X3 class flare about the size of Jupiter. In other words VERY BIG! Three days later, old #720 spat out an X7 flare sending several billion tons of protons to the earth in about 28 minutes. Such a coronal mass ejection (CME) usually tkes up to 48 hours to get from the sun to earth. It takes light from the sun to reach earth in eigh minutes, thus the particles were pushed towards earth in about a quarter of the speed of light.

News flash. The January 20th solar flare activity was to strange that it took NASA six months to release the data- not neing able to believe what their instruments were telling them.

As it turns out, the January 20th solar flare became a precursor to what would happen on September 7th of that year and lead us to the incredible earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes (can you say Katrina?) of the 4Q of 2005. The second largest solar flare on record (x17) became the exclamation point on cycle #23. And we can only guess, and hope that what 2012 brings is nothing like the gift of solar flare #798 on Sept. 7, 2005.

Otherwise? We’re toast: Literally! :-(

Written by Ernie · Filed Under 2012 

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