What is the distance of typical solar flares ??

ANDREW ROBERT BREEN wrote:

Not sure that you need H-alpha material /strictly/: I'm pretty sure
such things weren't around in the 1850s when Carrington and Hodgson
observed the great flare of 1859 -

Some very intense flares have been seen in white light against the disk of the
sun, but these so-called "white light flares" are *very* rare as flares go,
and the material ejected by them is, of course, not visible in a white light
filter. During the peak of solar activity, I could observe almost every day
or so for a few hours and see at least one small flare (and major flares once
or twice per week) with my H-alpha filter, but none of these ever appeared in
white light. Even some of the monster X-class flares I have watched have not
quite passed into the white-light category. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

In article ,
David Knisely wrote:
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN wrote:

Not sure that you need H-alpha material /strictly/: I'm pretty sure
such things weren't around in the 1850s when Carrington and Hodgson
observed the great flare of 1859 -

Some very intense flares have been seen in white light against the disk of the
sun, but these so-called "white light flares" are *very* rare as flares go,
and the material ejected by them is, of course, not visible in a white light

That was the point I was trying to make - that being pernickity you
don't need H-alpha to see a flare, but you might wait a very long time to
see one if you don't use it..
Agree wholly with all you have to say, of course.

filter. During the peak of solar activity, I could observe almost every day
or so for a few hours and see at least one small flare (and major flares once
or twice per week) with my H-alpha filter, but none of these ever appeared in
white light. Even some of the monster X-class flares I have watched have not
quite passed into the white-light category. Clear skies to you.

Not even the X28 (and possibly up to X45) flare last November?
I was talking to some people a month or so ago at the European Geosciences
Union meeting and it seems that Carrington's flare is now thought to
have been significantly bigger than the 4th November 2003 event and
might have been up in the X55-X60 range - this would fit in with it being
clear as a white-light event.

Interesting..

--
Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)

In article ,
David Knisely wrote:
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN wrote:

Not sure that you need H-alpha material /strictly/: I'm pretty sure
such things weren't around in the 1850s when Carrington and Hodgson
observed the great flare of 1859 -

Some very intense flares have been seen in white light against the disk of the
sun, but these so-called "white light flares" are *very* rare as flares go,
and the material ejected by them is, of course, not visible in a white light

That was the point I was trying to make - that being pernickity you
don't need H-alpha to see a flare, but you might wait a very long time to
see one if you don't use it..
Agree wholly with all you have to say, of course.

filter. During the peak of solar activity, I could observe almost every day
or so for a few hours and see at least one small flare (and major flares once
or twice per week) with my H-alpha filter, but none of these ever appeared in
white light. Even some of the monster X-class flares I have watched have not
quite passed into the white-light category. Clear skies to you.

Not even the X28 (and possibly up to X45) flare last November?
I was talking to some people a month or so ago at the European Geosciences
Union meeting and it seems that Carrington's flare is now thought to
have been significantly bigger than the 4th November 2003 event and
might have been up in the X55-X60 range - this would fit in with it being
clear as a white-light event.

Interesting..

--
Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)

ANDREW ROBERT BREEN posted:

Not even the X28 (and possibly up to X45) flare last November?

I don't know, as I merely refer to the solar flares which I have seen (it was
cloudy during one of those monsters, and the other occurred before sunrise
here). A few I have seen have been up to around X5 to maybe X7, but none were
much larger than this (most of the flares I routinely observer are C and M
X-ray class events). The white light ones seem to be those of X10 or above,
and they tend to be fairly rare. The other problem with observing the
white-light emission is that it tends to be briefer than the flare's longevity
in H-alpha (1 to 10 minutes typically). Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

ANDREW ROBERT BREEN posted:

Not even the X28 (and possibly up to X45) flare last November?

I don't know, as I merely refer to the solar flares which I have seen (it was
cloudy during one of those monsters, and the other occurred before sunrise
here). A few I have seen have been up to around X5 to maybe X7, but none were
much larger than this (most of the flares I routinely observer are C and M
X-ray class events). The white light ones seem to be those of X10 or above,
and they tend to be fairly rare. The other problem with observing the
white-light emission is that it tends to be briefer than the flare's longevity
in H-alpha (1 to 10 minutes typically). Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************