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Don’t Miss Perseids Meteor Shower

August 7, 2013 by
A picutre of a beautiful meteor and the moon in the background.

The Perseids meteor shower in August can produce up to 100 meteors an hour.

The Perseid meteors will streak across the night sky August 10-13 from late night until dawn. There will be little to no interference from the waxing crescent moon, and the moon will be near Saturn in the evening hours, so the Perseid show should be very beautiful.

The best mornings to see the meteor shower are on August 11, 12 and 13.

The Perseids tend to increase in number in the late night close to midnight, and they typically produce the most meteors just before dawn.

The Perseid meteors radiate from the constellation Perseus, the Hero. The meteors will appear in all parts of the sky, and they are typically fast and bright meteors that leave long, bright trains, or tails.

The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most enjoyable meteor shower of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The shower builds gradually to a peak, and can produce 50 to 100 meteors per hour.

Set your alarm so you don’t miss this one.

A picture of an alarm clock.

Filed Under: Space Tagged With: , , ,

Something Big Is Happening On The Sun

August 5, 2013 by
A picture of the sun's magnetic field.

Every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse, and this big event will take place within the next 2 to 3 months. Courtesy of NASA

Within the next two or three months, the Sun’s magnetic north and south poles will flip. Don’t worry – it won’t end time or destroy the Earth … the reversal of the Sun’s magnetic poles is a big event, but it happens every 11 years.

The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of the current Solar Cycle 24, and half of “Solar Max'”will be behind us, but half is yet to come.

Trickling Down To Earth

During polar field reversals, the Sun’s polar magnetic fields weaken, they then go to zero, and emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle, and actually, this happens on all the planets. When the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse, the same thing happens to us (just not as hot). No human has ever been alive when the Earth’s poles have flipped, but we can learn about this process by studying the Sun.

A picture of the earth's magnetic field.

The Earth’s magnetic field reverses like the Sun’s, but we have much to learn about this phenomenon.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, we are exposed to its vacillating radiation and magnetism coming from its surface, and this stirs up “stormy space weather” around our planet that trickles down as climate change and the increase in natural disasters.

This is what we are witnessing today.

A Big Deal

A reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field is a very big deal. The Sun’s magnetic influence extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto, and changes to the Sun’s polarity ripples all the way out into interstellar space. These ripples influence every planet in our solar system.

Get Ready For The Flip

A picture of the Sun's coronal hole.

Coronal hole on the sun moving toward the Sun’s North Pole showing the change in polarity. NASA, July 18, 2013.

The Sun’s north pole has already changed polarity, and the south pole will soon catch up. Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of Solar Max will be underway.

The Sun’s two hemispheres are out of synch right now, but when they finally flip, the worst will be over. In time, the Sun’s magnetic field will reach a new equilibrium, but for us, here on Earth, we’ll have another 5 1/2 years of the Sun’s super warming … keep your sunglasses handy.

 

Filed Under: Pole Shift, Space Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Sun’s Sweet Spot

August 1, 2013 by
A picture of the Sun's coronal hole.

A coronal hole on the sun moving toward the Sun’s North Pole about 400,000 miles across. NASA July 18, 2013.

The Earth is 93 million miles away from the Sun, and this places our planet in the sweet spot. We are not too close to the Sun, and we’re not too far away – we are positioned PERFECTLY to the Sun. Because of our position, we have a plethora of life on Earth unlike any other planet in our solar system. We are lucky ducks.

Solar Changes

When the Sun changes, though, it changes all life on Earth, and whether the changes are good or bad, humans have gotten so used to the ways things are now, change doesn’t come easy.

Affects On Earth

Every 11 years, the Sun’s surface becomes more active with violent eruptions and increased heat. This current solar cycle is reaching its maximum activity in late 2013 and early 2014. This doesn’t mean that the solar cycle is over; this means that over the next few years, the Sun will begin cooling down, and its effects on the Earth will be less threatening as today.

The presence of a huge coronal hole is our signal that the surface of the Sun is turning the corner and  beginning to calm down.

From Flares To Holes

Holes in the Sun, known as coronal holes, are currently ramping up toward what is known as solar maximum, currently predicted for late 2013. During this portion of the cycle, the number of coronal holes decreases. During solar max, the magnetic fields on the Sun reverse, and new coronal holes appear near the poles with the opposite magnetic alignment. The coronal holes then increase in size and number, extending farther from the poles as the Sun moves toward solar minimum again. At such times, coronal holes have appeared that are even larger than this one.

The holes are important to our understanding of space weather, as they are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the Sun some three times faster than the slower wind elsewhere. While it’s unclear what causes coronal holes, they correlate to areas on the Sun where magnetic fields soar up and away, failing to loop back down to the surface as they do elsewhere.

EMPs, or electromagnetic pulses, are high energy explosions of electromagnetic radiation on the Sun, much like nuclear explosions, and these explosions can send out huge solar flares wiping out communication systems and modern electronics on the Earth.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), commonly known as solar flares, are massive bursts of solar wind and magnetic fields rising above the Sun’s surface and being released into space. Most CMEs originate from very active regions on the Sun’s surface.

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

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

Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Before the Sun cools down, it will reach its peak of increasing heat and surface eruptions. This impacts the Earth in many ways.

As 2013 closes and we begin 2014, we will continue to experience strange weather patterns, violent storms, and increases in volcanoes and earthquakes. 

Remember that the Earth is responding to the dominant influences of the Sun, and as long as the Sun is fired up – we’ll stay fired up.

 

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