Massive Solar Flare

This seems VERY unusual to be occuring so far into "solar minimum"
cycle. Maybe we'll get some good Auroral displays in the next week or two.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2499.htm

"This event created a complete blackout of high frequency communications
on the daylit side of Earth, which included the entire U.S. and
basically anywhere the sun was shinning at this time," said Combs.
"Communications used by emergency services along the Gulf Coast may have
experienced problems due to this flare. Low frequency navigation systems
may also have experienced a period of significant degradation,"

That was a biggie.. X17 or so, one of the biggest flares this cycle, I
think.
It did occur at the edge of the solar disk though, so the associated coronal
mass ejection will not be earth-directed. We may not get much of an aurora
as a result.

Yes we are approaching the solar minimum, but solar activity is well above
solar minimum levels and this cycle does seem to be declining more slowly
than might be expected. The 2800Mhz Solar Flux(see note below) in 1994 (5
years or so after the peak of Cycle 22) did not exceed 100 units on any
single day after the beginning of March - yet this year (at roughly the same
point in the solar cycle) it has exceeded this value for several days each
month.

Jim.

Note - the 2800Mhz solar flux is a radio measurement whose movement
reasonably closely resembles the sunspot number. Approximate values range
from 65 at lowest at solar minimum, up to 200's and occasioanlly exceeding
300 at solar maximum.



"Karatepe" wrote in message
...
This seems VERY unusual to be occuring so far into "solar minimum" cycle.
Maybe we'll get some good Auroral displays in the next week or two.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2499.htm

"This event created a complete blackout of high frequency communications
on the daylit side of Earth, which included the entire U.S. and basically
anywhere the sun was shinning at this time," said Combs. "Communications
used by emergency services along the Gulf Coast may have experienced
problems due to this flare. Low frequency navigation systems may also have
experienced a period of significant degradation,"

The active region associated with this event will rotate across the Sun
over the next two weeks, so things could get interesting.