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APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 4:06 am
by APOD Robot
Four X class Flares
Explanation: Swinging around the Sun's eastern limb on Monday, a group of sunspots labeled active region AR1748 has produced the
first four X-class solar flares of 2013 in less than 48 hours. In time sequence clockwise from the top left, flashes from the four were captured in extreme ultraviolet images from the
Solar Dynamics Observatory. Ranked
according to their peak brightness in X-rays, X-class flares are the most powerful class and are frequently accompanied by
coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive clouds of high energy plasma launched into space. But CMEs from the first three flares were not Earth-directed, while one associated with the fourth flare may deliver a glancing blow to the
Earth's magnetic field on May 18. Also causing temporary radio blackouts, AR1748 is likely not finished.
Still forecast to have a
significant chance of producing strong flares, the active region is rotating into more direct view
across the Sun's nearside.
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Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 4:07 am
by bystander
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 4:31 am
by ta152h0
I am in complete amazement and certainly in awe that this can go on for about 10 billion years and if I can get 10 years out of my truck, I am happy.
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 6:37 am
by Boomer12k
Duck and Cover....its swinging around for another shot!
The Sun is certainly energetic now...
:---[===] *
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 9:11 am
by MargaritaMc
I know they are a bit scary - but they are SO beautiful!
I've only recently re-watched
Robert Nemiroff's lectures about the Sun - really good! I recommend them to other newbies.
Margarita
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:08 am
by Beyond
ta152h0 wrote:I am in complete amazement and certainly in awe that this can go on for about 10 billion years and if I can get 10 years out of my truck, I am happy.
That's because there's about a 10 Billion size difference between the sun and your truck.
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am
by Ele6
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:48 am
by emc
the sun has a gun that Can Miss Earth
the flare with a glare that Can Mute Electric
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:05 pm
by owlice
Thanks very much for reporting this! The editor has been notified.
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:56 pm
by RJN
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:07 pm
by Anthony Barreiro
APOD Robot wrote: Swinging around the Sun's eastern limb on Monday, ...
I always get confused when I read "east" and "west" referring to the surfaces of solar system bodies. Objects on the surface of the Sun rotate from east to west in Earth's sky, but if we were wearing asbestos underwear and floating next to a sunspot on the surface of the Sun's photosphere, we would be moving from west to east.
The same with the Moon. Mare Crisium is on the western edge of the Moon's visible face in Earth's sky, but if we were astronauts at the Apollo 11 landing site in Mare Tranquilitatis, Mare Crisium would be toward the east on the surface of the Moon. The Sun rises on Mare Crisium before it rises on Mare Tranquilitatis, just as it rises on New York before rising on San Francisco.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot rotates from east to west in Earth's sky, but from west to east on the surface of Jupiter's cloud tops.
The terms "preceding" (west in Earth's sky, east on the surface of a solar system body) and "following" (east in Earth's sky, west on the surface of a solar system body) seem to have fallen out of favor, but they are clearer than using east and west. In this case, we would say that this sunspot is rotating around the Sun's following limb.
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 7:01 pm
by Craig Willford
Whenever there are pictures put up with false color, such as with infrared, radio frequencies, UV, X-ray or Gamma Rays, I wish there were a color key, such as Purple maps to keV above X, Blue maps to keV above Y but below X, etc.
Re: APOD: Four X class Flares (2013 May 16)
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:40 pm
by bystander
Craig Willford wrote:Whenever there are pictures put up with false color, such as with infrared, radio frequencies, UV, X-ray or Gamma Rays, I wish there were a color key, such as Purple maps to keV above X, Blue maps to keV above Y but below X, etc.
SDO color key:
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/