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Explosion on The Sun - Solar Flares the 8 Minute Journey

Solar system flares are the biggest explosions in the universe, and the most energetic. These were first discovered by Galileo in the early 17th century, after which you can later on in 1859 by an English amateur astronomer by the name of Richard Christopher Carrington. Subsequently, they haven't only been observed on the sun, however they have been viewed on other stars in addition.

A solar flare is really a large explosion in the sun atmosphere that will release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy(in regards to a sixth of the total energy output of the sun each second). Although challenging to predict their occurrence with any certainty, the only warning lies in the indisputable fact that most proton storms take two or more hours from the time of visual detection to attain earth's orbit (providing bit of time to make due to its impact).

Solar flares come from a process called magnetic reconnection whereby opposite magnetic fields on the sun's surface come together resulting in a sudden release of energy. Solar flares affect all layers of the solar atmosphere (photosphere, corona, and chromosphere), causing plasma to heat to tens of millions of kelvins(one of measurement of temperature) and accelerating electrons, protons, and heavier ions to near the speed of light. In fact, while the fastest visit to the moon took 8 hours and 38 minutes, solar flares generally take merely 8 minutes to seek out their way into the earths ionosphere an can have damaging effects. These flares produce radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays and for that reason, might cause damaging effects on the earth for example: Loss of power systems, radiation poisoning, rendering chip ran vehicles powerless, affecting inter-planetary travel for astronauts, as well as hand held phones (and various electronics) and satellite interruptions (and various systems operating at those frequencies).

Most flares occur in active regions around sunspots (visible brown spots on the photosphere of the sun), where intense magnetic fields penetrate the photosphere (deepest region of the sun) to link the corona (type of plasma atmosphere that extends far into space) to the solar interior. Flares are powered by the sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the corona. In case a solar flare is exceptionally powerful, it can cause coronal mass ejections(massive burst of wind, plasma, magnetic energy that is released into space).

Solar activity varies using an 11-year cycle (the solar cycle). At the peak of the cycle you will find typically more sunspots on the Sun, therefore more solar flares. NASA predicts as the sun approaches its 11 year cycle in 2012, when the sun aligns with the milky way galaxy(a celebration which only occurs approx. every 211,000 years), boosts the amount of solar flares the sun experiences as well as perhaps increased dangers to the earth (because of potential increased coronal mass ejections).

Although solar flares can be troublesome at times, they also have been connected to bringing about the breathtaking southern and northern polar lights phenomenons like the aurora borealis and aurora australis.

The noticably solar storm in history happened in 1859 (called the Carrington Event named after English amateur astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington)causing telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe to spontaneously short out (lasting 8 days), causing numerous fires, and the phenomena of the Northern Lights for being observed as far south as Rome, Havana and Hawaii. It absolutely was recorded that the Northern Lights were so bright, you could read the newspaper solely from its illumination. Most recently, a 1994 solar storm caused major malfunctions to two communications satellites, disrupting newspaper, network television and nationwide radio service throughout Canada.

Whether the sun shall be in its active or quiet period on or before 2012, scientists is able to only predict. The truth remains that solar storms occur almost daily and so are very much part of our existence. The National Academy of Sciences report says an enormous solar event could induce ground currents that will knock out 300 key transformers within about 90 seconds. Like with any impending threats to the earth, it's usually a good idea to hold fast to the old addage,"it's best to be safe than sorry" and become served by informing yourself on easy methods to survive an enormous solar storm.

Reference moon.