I took these images yesterday with close ups of active region 3576 which is one of the largest spot groups to have formed in the past few years. Nearly 100,000 miles across, it is in the central part of the sun and has intense, tangled magnetic fields which hold enough energy to produce a massive solar flare, and we now sit squarely in the line of fire. If the energy of the most intense solar flares could be captured and stored, each one could supply the current energy needs of the United States for a million years. Yes, that is a million years!
If aimed directly at earth, strong flares have the potential to cause radio blackouts, damage satellites, endanger astronauts, and can even cause significant radiation exposures to airline travelers. Particles ejected by a flare carry magnetic fields that can induce strong currents in electrical transmission lines powerful enough to damage equipment and cause blackouts. In 1989, Quebec and parts of northeastern US suffered a nine hour blackout due to such an event. Worst case scenarios could induce a world wide electrical blackout at enormous financial and human cost. Fortunately such direct blows to earth are rare, and the sun is monitored closely in hopes of mitigating any potential adverse events.
The active region on the pictures above fascinate solar observers like me but, unfortunately, dangles like the sword of Damocles over whole earth. Lets hope that if this one unleashes its full fury, it waits until it’s aimed away from us as another active region did when it erupted powerfully on Friday. It was on western limb of the sun and we will only get a glancing blow.
Photos above were taken through special filters to show active magnetic fields (bright areas) and spots (dark areas). The red image also shows filaments of matter held above the sun by powerful magnetic fields. The close up images cover an area on the order of 200,000 miles across.
#sunspot #activeregions #solarflare #coronalmassejection
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 