'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
1–10 of 52 posts
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#2It doesn't just cause radio blackouts as they say in the article. For us hams it's actually great because the charged atmosphere acts like a mirror and we can bounce signals all over the earth.
But for satellites this is really bad news.
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#3That's some impressive artillery that archipelago has.
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#4It doesn't just cause radio blackouts as they say in the article. For us hams it's actually great because the charged atmosphere acts like a mirror and we can bounce signals all over the earth. But for satellites this is really bad news.
I wonder what the insurance policy on starlink satellites looks like.
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#5https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle_25
Relevant article about the current solar cycle, which nears its maximum and is unusually intense, apparently.
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#6If want to check some sunspot images interactively, you can visit helioviewer.org
From the left sidebar menu, select: Observatory: SDO Instrument: HMI Measurement: Continuum
You can play around with the dates on top to see it move to the center of the sun (almost there!)
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#7This is alarming. Does anyone know what the current state of space weather protection/mitigation is for electricity grids in the west?
IIRC in 2012 the Earth missed a giant CME by one week, and had it hit Earth there would have been 80% casualties in the US (according to a US government committee), due to the fallout of failing electrical transformers. I'm not aware that this issue has been rectified - probably due to the magnitude of the task.
Edit: This suggests the issue is being addressed but not to what extent: https://www.space.com/space-weather-impacts-electric-grid-pr...
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#8It doesn't just cause radio blackouts as they say in the article. For us hams it's actually great because the charged atmosphere acts like a mirror and we can bounce signals all over the earth. But for satellites this is really bad news.
I wonder what the insurance policy on starlink satellites looks like.
Hint: not cheap.
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#9It doesn't just cause radio blackouts as they say in the article. For us hams it's actually great because the charged atmosphere acts like a mirror and we can bounce signals all over the earth. But for satellites this is really bad news.
I wonder what the insurance policy on starlink satellites looks like.
Looks like it’s not unique case at least. The space infrastructure insurance has history of decades: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_insurance
Re: 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
#10This is alarming. Does anyone know what the current state of space weather protection/mitigation is for electricity grids in the west? IIRC in 2012 the Earth missed a giant CME by one week, and had it hit Earth there would have been 80% casualties in the US (according to a US government committee), due to the fallout of failing electrical transformers. I'm not aware that this issue has been rectified - probably due t…
It's not like predicting the weather, if that's what you're asking. The solar observatories watch the sun constantly, so we see when elections occur, but there is little to no warning before they happen.