- 4220 - SOLAR ECLIPSE - and solar flares October 31, 2023, a powerful explosion from the sun briefly opened up an enormous valley on the solar surface that was more than twice as wide as the contiguous U.S. and seven times longer than Earth.
--------------------- 4220 - SOLAR ECLIPSE - and solar flares
- This massive solar
flare loop of plasma broke off from the sun and temporarily left behind a
massive canyon in the solar surface. The
plume of plasma that erupted from the sun on Halloween briefly carved out an
enormous "canyon of fire" on the solar surface that was twice as wide
as the contiguous U.S.
-
- This fiery valley
is another striking reminder that the sun is fast approaching its explosive
peak, the “solar maximum”. This loop of
magnetized plasma, known as a solar prominence, grew in the sun's southern
hemisphere and became unstable, before breaking off and launching into space
like a snapped elastic band.
-
- As the prominence
raced away, it left behind a gigantic, canyon-like hole in the superhot plasma
that makes up the sun's surface. This "canyon of fire" was around
6,200 miles wide and stretched 10 times as long.
-
- This plasma ravine
was 620 times wider and 224 times longer than the Grand Canyon and 50 times
wider and 25 times longer than the Valles Marineris on Mars . Which is the
largest-known canyon in the solar system.
-
- In April, 2022, a
124,000-mile-long canyon opened up on the sun; and in September the same
year, an even larger canyon stretching a whopping 239,000 miles appeared after
an epic solar eruption. Both of these canyons were 12,400 miles deep, which
is 1,800 times deeper than the Mariana
Trench.
-
- The plasma plumes
that get flung from the sun to birth these canyons can eventually barrel into
Earth and trigger geomagnetic storms and vibrant auroras. Initially, scientists
were concerned that the catapulted prominence from the latest eruption could
hit our planet. But follow-up observations revealed it will now luckily miss us
completely.
-
- The massive solar
canyon is the latest sign that we are rapidly approaching solar maximum, the
explosive peak in the sun's roughly 11-year solar cycle, which is now likely to
arrive in 2024.
-
- In the lead-up to
solar maximum, the sun's magnetic field lines begin to get tangled up. These
invisible lines are normally what constrain plasma to the sun's surface. But
when they get intertwined, they become less effective at holding plasma in
place, which enables large prominences and deep valleys to form on the surface.
-
- The weaker surface
magnetism has also led to a range of other intriguing plasma structures this
year including an enormous polar vortex that swirled around the sun's north
pole, a towering solar tornado taller than 14 Earths and a logic-defying plasma
waterfall that showered the sun with fiery rain.
-
- The “Ring of fire”
eclipse of October 14 will be practice run for total solar eclipse next
year. The world's biggest solar
telescope will join the observing party.
North America will experience an annular "ring of fire" eclipse crosses eight U.S. states in between
Oregon and Texas.
-
- An annular eclipse
occurs when the moon is further away from Earth, causing it to be slightly
smaller than the sun in the sky. The smaller moon is unable to block the entire
disk of the sun, creating a "ring of fire" for a few minutes when the
moon passes in front of the sun.
-
- The upcoming
annular eclipse will pass across the United States on April 8, 2024.
Science will be front and center with the research team using
the annular eclipse to get ready for totality.
-
- Scientists will be
able to view a very active corona, or upper atmosphere of the sun, during the
precious minutes that the sun is nearly completely blocked by the moon. The sun
is nearing its maximum of solar activity in its 11-year-cycle, unlike the last
U.S. total solar eclipse of 2017, meaning that the corona will be very active
this time around.
-
- Solar activity has
an immense impact on the ionosphere, which is a layer of Earth's atmosphere
that interacts with electromagnetic radiation from above and below its extent.
These interactions affect the propagation of radio signals.
-
- With the sun mostly
blacked out temporarily by the eclipse, NSF will be carefully watching what
happens "when you suddenly turn off that X-ray and the ultraviolet rays
from the sun that usually filter into the ionosphere and affect its
extent. The ionosphere actually expands
and contracts depending on how much energy it is absorbing from the sun.
-
- The ham radio
community will also help with ionospheric studies during the eclipse, using
their GPS receivers to help professional scientists track changes in that layer
of the Earth's atmosphere. That's going
to be useful in moving the science forward, and also getting the excitement of
the eclipse out into the public.
-
- Scientists will be
watching local weather to see how it is affected by the lack of solar
radiation. In April next year,
scientists will chase the total eclipse in NSF Gulfstream-V aircraft to study
the elusive "low corona," referring to the parts of the upper
atmosphere of the sun that are not observable from space.
-
- Once this eclipse
campaign is over, NSF says no other total solar eclipse will be visible in the
United States until 2044, that's 20 years after April's event.
-
-
November 12, 2023
SOLAR ECLIPSE - and
solar flares
4220
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