Solar Storms
Storms in space could have a devastating effect on our society. Solar storms are a result of solar flares and are electromagnetic in nature. They are capable of causing power outages and halting all types of communication, including; electronic pagers; radio and television broadcasts; credit card transactions; military communications; etc.
Solar flares are cyclical, usually over a period of eleven years. There are three basic stages to a solar flare. The first stage is the precursor stage, where the release of magnetic energy is triggered. In the second or impulsive stage, radio waves are emitted. During the third or decay stage, the gradual build up and decay of soft x-rays can be detected.
The frequency of these stages coincides with the sun's eleven-year cycle. When the solar cycle is at a minimum, these flares are smaller and happen less frequently. As the sun approaches the maximum part of its cycle, these increase in intensity and frequency.
Solar flares are explosions that are believed to be caused by the sudden release of energy that is stored in the solar atmosphere. The gases on the outer layer of the sun behave like a pot of boiling liquid, sort of rolling or bubbling back and forth. These are called ionized gases or plasma. They drag the magnetic field of the sun with it, twisting it and strengthening it. In some of theses regions the magnetic field becomes very strong and they break out into the solar atmosphere. These structures act like magnets that break and connect with each other. During this process the structures that act like opposing magnets become unstable and are released into the atmosphere as a solar flare. These gases are believed to be two million degrees Fahrenheit. The particl...
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...ass intelligence and enable instant communication anywhere in the world, as well as the Global Positioning System constellation of satellites.
The military expects signals from the Global Positioning System to be inaccurate and at times there will be complete failure during the upcoming Solar Maximum. They also expect that ground-based radar systems will experience unreliable periods, which will render them useless, or cause false information to be provided.
The military has paid NASA approximately $20 million to develop and install a solar X-ray imager on a weather satellite. The prototype sensor will provide advance warning of approaching solar radiation bursts. With warning the military can reorient satellites to protect them from particle bombardment. They will also delay planned satellite documents and shut down systems to mitigate the Solar Maximum effects.
When a patient starts to generate new bone, what doctors calls a flare-up; it causes tissue swelling and joint stiffness. Flare-ups may last as long as 6-8 weeks. Also during a flare-up the patients might experience low-grade fevers, this is mainly because fevers are part of an inflammatory reaction.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO for short is a cooperative joint effort by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The main mission of this project is to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive upper atmosphere, as well as to determine the origin and characteristics of the solar wind.
Feldstein, Y. I. (2013, November 20) "Some problems concerning the morphology of auroras and magnetic disturbances at high latitudes.” retrieved from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
middle of paper ... ... Solar Storm is a story where two cultures are drawn into conflict over environmental recourses in order to persevere in their way of life. Two views tend to clash, one a view of Eco criticism while the other is in denial. In order to secure their survival, they will stop at nothing.
NSSS states a few current trends in space as being “congested and contested” (NSSS, 8), which is shaping our space strategic environment as well as fueling debates for space weapons. “Congested” trend refers to the current “60 nations and government consortia that own and operate satellites and the expectation to have 9000 satellite communication transponders in orbit by 2015.
alternating 6 month periods of light and dark. This is also the reason why the
"Space Weather, Solar Flares & Sun Storms: Latest News." Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2013. http://www.space.com/topics/solar-flares-space-weather-latest-news/
Attention Getter: Let’s look ahead fifty years and see what the world is like. Imagine a world that is in total war with no end in sight. The cause behind this war is simple, oil. Everyone is fighting over those last few reserves of oil. How can this future be prevented? The answer is solar power.
Understanding more about sunspots, their cycle, radiation, and magnetic properties will facilitate scientists to unlock the mysterious workings of the Sun. With today’s technology this understanding will come more quickly. Knowledge of sunspots may lead us to be able to predict when solar activity could affect the Earth like it did during the solar max in 1989. Information like this could eventually allow us to be able to protect ourselves from solar radiation.
There are two types of ways a Supernova can be triggered. The first trigger is the result of a white dwarf accumulating matter from a companion. This causes the dwarf to reach a core temperature too high to survive which in turn makes an explosion. The second trigger is when a star’s nuclear fuel is diminishing and can no longer support the release of nuclear energy. If the star’s core is large enough it will breakdown and become a supernova. Most observations of a supernova are made through spectral lines. Classification agrees with the physical classification, because large stars are made of mostly hydrogen, while white dwarf stars are plain. White dwarfs have a bare surrounding because the original star’s explosion was so great that the winds pushed the hydrogen away.
Lightning is caused by the separation of charges. The top of cumulonimbus clouds are freezing with ice crystals moving around. The collision of the ice crystals creates an electrical charge. In the colder areas of a cloud, which is the top, the charges are positive. The negative charges make up the base of the cloud. This creates lightning within the cloud. The surface of the earth has positive charges and because positive charges are attracted to negative charges, it creates are spark of lighting between the ground and the base of the cloud.
We live in a communication age to where anything is accessible at any time, sometimes that technology is great and sometimes we overindulge. We live our lives not thinking about what could happen tomorrow and we definitely live our lives not worrying about what could happen if a catastrophe would knock out all of this communication that we are so obsessed with. What forms of communication would be gone, what would still continue to work, and would we be cut off all together are my questions? “Geomagnetic storms can interfere directly with GPS and radio communication because of the ionosphere disturbances. The interference can range from induced noise to complete signal loss. Geomagnetic storms can indirectly
TVS and telephones are using satellites, and I thought it would be a good idea
A solar storm refers to space weather involving solar activities like solar flares and coronal mass ejection. Although most solar storms may only have minor effect on the Earth, a particularly strong one like the 1859 Carrington Event is likely to cause damage of spacecraft and satellites, as well as radio and electricity blackout of large regions on the Earth. In the age that people’s lives are greatly dependent on electronic and telecommunication technologies, our modern civilization is under a constant threat posed by a hazardous solar storm. This paper will examine a few past solar storm observations and attempt to analyze the effects of the major components of solar storms on human technologies and people’s lives.