AstroAlert: Solar Maximum Deja Vu!

[Bernhard Dorner]

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This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Sun-Earth Interactions
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A s t r o A l e r t

Sun-Earth Alert

Solar Terrestrial Dispatch

http://www.spacew.com

22 October 2003

SOLAR MAXIMUM DEJA VU

It is an established fact that intense regions of solar activity can
occur at just about any time during the ~11 year solar cycle. Although they
appear more frequently during the years immediately around the solar maximum,
they can also occur well into the declining years closer to the solar
minimum. We are currently observing one of those periods.

Not one, but TWO intense active regions are now visible on the Sun.

The first and thus far the largest region (Region 484) was mentioned in
the last AstroAlert. It now covers an area of more than 5,200 million square
kilometers. That is larger than the surface areas of all of the inner planets
(Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) combined - with more than enough room left
over for an additional planet having the surface area of the Earth)! Region
484 is easily visible to the unaided (but protected!) eye.

Another active region has just rotated into view around the
southeastern limb of the Sun. John McConnell, an avid solar observer,
notified us today that this region is now visible on the limb. It's size is
still difficult to discern given its proximity to the limb. But it has proven
to be a powerful sunspot complex capable of very energetic activity.

Beginning at about 19:30 UTC yesterday (3:30 pm EDT) and while still
behind the east limb of the Sun, this region produced a long-duration flare.
The tops of the solar explosion were visible as the activity rose above the
surface of the Sun. Several hours later, at 03:24 UTC on 22 October (or 11:24
pm EDT on 21 October), this region produced a very long duration solar flare.
X-rays from this event remained above M-class levels for a remarkable 8 full
hours! The total energy released from this event was comparable to the energy
released in a typical major X-class solar flare. Coronal mass ejections were
associated with both of these events.

As this region rotates toward the Earth over the next week, it may
produce additional coronal mass ejections capable of producing stronger space
weather storms and associated periods of stronger auroral activity ("Northern
Lights").

Either of these two strong centers of solar activity are capable of
producing minor to major solar flares.

** End of the AstroAlert Bulletin **

[Thomas Sävert]

Hallo zusammen,

weiß das jemand? Ich kann nichts derartiges in den zurückliegenden Daten finden, Ihr vielleicht?

Gruß, Thomas Sävert

[Peter Kuklok]

Zumindest #9393 (29.03.2001) war deutlich größer *NM* *LINK*

[Thomas Sävert]

Hi Peter,

Du bist ja unser "Chefstatistiker". Wie groß war denn #9393? Du hast ja eine Statistik unter

http://www.meteoros.de/cgi-bin/aurora3/ ... l?read=920

gepostet. Dort sind in der rechten Spalte Zahlen genannt, weißt Du die Einheit davon? In dem Alert vorhin tauchte dieser Text auf:

"The first and thus far the largest region (Region 484) was mentioned in the last AstroAlert. It now covers an area of more than 5,200 million square kilometers. That is larger than the surface areas of all of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) combined - with more than enough room left over for an additional planet having the surface area of the Earth)! Region 484 is easily visible to the unaided (but protected!) eye."

Jetzt weiß ich halt nicht, wie ich das in Deine List einordnen soll. Wäre Dir sehr dankbar über ein paar kleine Hinweise.

Gruß, Thomas Sävert

[Peter Kuklok]

Hi Thomas,

: Wie groß war denn #9393? Du hast ja eine Statistik unter
: http://www.meteoros.de/cgi-bin/aurora3/ ... l?read=920
: gepostet.

schau mal hier der Link ( http://spaceweather.com/sunspots/history.html ), dort findest Du die entsprechenden Infos.

Und hier ( ftp://ftp.sec.noaa.gov/pub/latest/SRS.txt ) findest Du die aktuelle Größe von #484 (1720). Im AstroAlert wurde leider eine andere Einheit benutzt. Ob es zwischen #9393 und #484 noch etwas vergleichbar Großes gab, kann ich jetzt nicht sagen....Mist, also doch kein Chefstatistiker

Grüße
Peter

[Daniel Ricke/Hannover]

Moin Thomas!

Dort sind in der rechten Spalte Zahlen genannt, weißt Du
: die Einheit davon? In dem Alert vorhin tauchte dieser Text auf:
: "The first and thus far the largest region (Region 484) was
: mentioned in the last AstroAlert. It now covers an area of more
: than 5,200 million square kilometers. That is larger than the
: surface areas of all of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth
: and Mars) combined - with more than enough room left over for an
: additional planet having the surface area of the Earth)! Region
: 484 is easily visible to the unaided (but protected!) eye."

Die Einheit ist hier zu finden:

Siehe halt bei "Area".

Bin mir nicht sicher, ob das helfen kann.

Viele Grüße

Daniel

[Thomas Sävert]

Danke für die Infos *NM* *LINK*