On January 22, a January 22 M8.7 class flare caused the biggest solar storm since 2005. Aeroplanes had to change routes and the power grid and satellites were affected. It also caused some of the best auroras ever seen.
There’s a solar Coronal Mass Ejection travelling towards us at 2253km/s, the largest solar storm since 2005. It will hit Earth around 9am ET (1am AEDT), causing fluctuations on the power grid and disruptions to the Global Positioning System.
This video of an M-class solar flare condenses three hours of explosion into a dramatic 1-minute video. The mesmerising part is the graceful way the fountain of flowing plasma floats back to the sun’s surface. It doesn’t just plop back down, rather, it follows the star’s magnetic field lines.
We’ve studied sunspots for over 400 years but have never been able to reliably predict their appearances. That is, until three Stanford researchers developed a technique to find them days before they hit the Photosphere.
Save this one for next winter or in case you get lost in the tundra without a lighter: Pick up some ice from a creek and polish it until you make a lens capable of igniting some foliage. [The Daily What]
