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Here Comes The Next Comet – Lovejoy

December 21, 2013 by
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy

Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy – Photo by Gerald Rhemann on December 13, 2013 @ Jauerling, Lower Austria

What a magnificent comet!

Filled with knots and eddies of dusty plasma, Lovejoy’s tails stretch more than 20 degrees across the sky — long enough to overlap 40 Full Moons or fill the bowl of the Big Dipper, twice.

On December 23, 2013, the comet will be just inside the orbit of Earth (0.82 AU) during its closest approach to the sun or “perihelion.” The extra heating it gets at perihelion will grow its tails even more.

Shines Like A Star

Comet Lovejoy shines like a 4th magnitude star, so it is barely visible to the naked eye, especially when the sky is filled with full moonlight. However, the comet is a fairly easy target rising ahead of the sun in the eastern morning sky using a backyard telescope.

If you have a GOTO telescope, send it to these coordinates. Slight pointing errors are no problem because the tail is almost too broad to miss.

Here are some sky maps to reference locating Lovejoy: Dec. 18, 19, 20. They will be useful through December 23.

SOURCE: Spaceweather.com

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Brace For Big Earthquakes As The Sun Fires Up Again

November 9, 2013 by
A man pointing to Portugal on a map of the Earth.

Track the earthquakes over the next few weeks as the Sun fires up some CMEs.

When the Sun fires off huge coronal mass ejections (CMEs), earthquake records show that an increase in earthquakes occur at the same time all over the world.

This connection between solar storms and earthquakes may result in some doozies over the next few weeks because the Sun is firing up again.

Big Sunspots

Most CMEs reach the Earth in one to three days after they have ejected from the Sun’s surface. A powerful CME pointed toward Earth moving over 600 miles per second can disturb the upper atmosphere enough to disrupt radio signals and affect electronic systems in satellites both in space and on the ground.

A picture of a solar flare, or CME, exploding off the surface of the Sun.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of M-class flares, and a 20% chance of X-flares on November 10th.

Between November 5-8, 2013, a big sunspot (tagged AR1890) erupted off the surface of the Sun and produced an intense X3-class solar flare. AR1890 has calmed down a bit, but scientists believe this could be the calm before the storm.

The expanding Jupiter-sized sunspot has a “beta-gamma-delta” magnetic field that harbors energy for future strong flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of M-class flares, and a 20% chance of X-flares on November 10th.

Big Quakes

No one can predict when large earthquakes will occur – or where – but keep an eye on the Sun (not literally), and monitor the M-class and X-flares this month. And keep your feet firmly on the ground.

 

Filed Under: Earth Changes, Earthquakes, Social Awareness, Space Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Can Solar Storms Warn Us Of Earthquakes Coming?

November 6, 2013 by
A NASA picture of the Sun.

Solar flares appear to influence large earthquakes – Photo from NASA

When the Sun fires off huge coronal mass ejections (CMEs), earthquake records show that there is an increase in earthquakes at the same time all over the world.

When the Sun is calm and is not throwing out as many massive CMEs, the “number” of earthquakes worldwide goes down.

We can use this knowledge of possibilities to predict (as much as humanly possible) large earthquakes, especially near major metropolitan areas and around nuclear power plants.

Big Flares and Large Quakes

The sun has erupted more than a dozen times over the past week, throwing radiation into space; some CMEs are heading toward Earth, and some outward into the unknown. According to NASA, the Sun fired off 24 medium strength M-class flares and 4 stronger X-class flares between October 23 – 30.

A picture of a solar flare, or CME, exploding off the surface of the Sun.

Big flares appear when big quakes shake the Earth.

The following large earthquakes occurred on Earth at this time:

  1. 6.6  43km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile  2013-10-31
  2. 6.3  45km SSW of Hualian, Taiwan  2013-10-31
  3. 6.2  46km W of Constitucion, Chile  2013-10-30
  4. 7.1  Off the east coast of Honshu, Japan  2013-10-25
  5. 6.7  East of the South Sandwich Islands  2013-10-24
  6. 6.5  91km SW of Etchoropo, Mexico  2013-10-19
  7. 6.8  64km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea  2013-10-16
  8. 7.1  5km SE of Sagbayan, Philippines  2013-10-15
  9. 6.4  30km W of Platanos, Greece  2013-10-12
  10. 6.1  33km N of Gueiria, Venezuela  2013-10-12
  11. 4.9  53km WNW of Eureka, California  2013-10-11
A picture of Hong Kong, Japan, a major city built within a natural disaster zone.

Humans build major populated cities on top of active earthquake zones – beautiful but dangerous.

The Solar/Quake Cycle

Today, this very minute, the solar cycle is reaching its peak, so this means that the Sun is “sucking up” more energy from its surface because its magnetic poles are preparing to flip. Scientists are monitoring this polar magnetic flip, and this should provide some hints when the next CMEs will flare up.

This should also provide us with some hints when the next large earthquakes will respond, here on the Earth.

THIS should provide the massive concentrations of people living along the most volatile earthquake zones some sort of warning when to expect larger earthquakes.

The question to ask is are we paying attention?

CMEs

Someone texting on their cell phone.

If your cell phone is acting up, it’s probably caused by the most recent CME.

Solar flares are strong bursts of radiation that sling powerful material through space toward Earth (known as a CME or coronal mass ejection), and some can be quite harmful. Most CMEs reach the Earth in one to three days after they have ejected from the Sun’s surface.

A powerful CME pointed toward Earth moving over 600 miles per second can disturb the upper atmosphere enough to disrupt radio signals and affect electronic systems in satellites both in space and on the ground.

Apparently the Earth’s earthquake zones DO respond to the Sun’s X-class flares, wouldn’t you say?

 

Filed Under: Earth Changes, Earthquakes, Space Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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