Live data from Hacker News

Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

spaceweatherlive.com

201–210 of 418 posts

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#201
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I hope you realize China had multiple famines with cannibalistic events as recent as 1959: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine

I hope you realize that about a million people died during the Irish great famine with almost no events of cannibalism. Suggesting that it's a normal occurrence during famine is very insulting to the character of those that survived those famines while still upholding basic human decency.

Irish person here: the “almost no” is being disputed by more recent scholarship/research. And was even featured in a documentary from the national broadcaster a few years ago.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/role-of-s...

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#202

Should I disconnect my computer from the grid at this point? (I'm using a UPS with built-in power surge protection but I'd rather not test it in prod.)

If you really want to be safe: put it in a cardboard box, wrap the cardboard box in air tight aluminum foil or a metal container, and then put the whole thing in another cardboard box to prevent any grounds or shorts.

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#203

The K-index for this is an 8 which is one less than an extreme G5 geomagnetic storm ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-index ). I haven't been able to find it, so I'm curious what the Carrington event K-index was?

This paper estimates Kp = (8.4±0.8). Because the scale is logarithmic, the difference between 8 and 9.2 is obviously quite extreme. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/asna.2022007...

I'm sure there are articles discussing the point, but I wonder why citizen-facing scales don't use more linear representations for things.

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#205
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a G4 storm less than two months ago: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-satellites-detect-seve...

oop, i guess i confused g4 and g5

My G5 is still running ;)

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#206
post #177

I wonder how much it would cost to harden the US power grid against another Carrington Event, such that "only" thousands of people would die, instead of millions.

Under the guise of protecting the grid from an EMP attack, it would seem well worth it. I’ve seen estimates shared here, but drawing a blank at the moment. Seemed dirt cheap, relatively speaking.

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#208

The K-index for this is an 8 which is one less than an extreme G5 geomagnetic storm ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-index ). I haven't been able to find it, so I'm curious what the Carrington event K-index was?

SWPC is now showing this storm as a G5 with a K-index of 9: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Re: Coronal mass ejection impact imminent, two more earth-directed CMEs

#210

A science presenter mentioned that the sunspots were supposed visible without magnification using eclipse glasses.

I see one right now near the bottom limb (observing from North America). It's been slowly moving to right the last few days as the sun rotates. I'm using cheap eclipse glasses.
Post reply on HN