Incoming Solar Storm

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Rabbitto
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Incoming Solar Storm

Post by Rabbitto » 08 March 12 4:29 pm

Currently it is 4:25pm Melbourne Time - A large geomagnetic storm should arrive at Earth over the next few hours. The storm is rated S3 which is "strong" in the 5 tier scale.
Don't Panic - Should be not too much to worry about from our point of view. This is the NOAA description of an S3 storm -

Biological: radiation hazard avoidance recommended for astronauts on EVA; passengers and crew in commercial jets at high latitudes may receive low-level radiation exposure (approximately 1 chest x-ray).
Satellite operations: single-event upsets, noise in imaging systems, and slight reduction of efficiency in solar panel are likely.
Other systems: degraded HF radio propagation through the polar regions and navigation position errors likely
.

Three things may be interesting -
1. Does it affect the satellites for geocaching? (most important)
2. Does it effect any other radio / tv / internet transmissions
3. Do you see an aurora? (May be possible - the closer to the poles the better the chance)

I would be interested to see your feedback for these for the next 24 hours

For the geeks - this is a result of the 2nd largest solar flare so far of solar cycle 24 and a direct hit geomagnetic storm on earth is fairly rare - ie most miss. Solarham.com is a wealth of information and links if you wish to learn more.

Picture below - Prediction of Solar Winds at about 9:00pm tonight Melbourne Time. The white is about 900km/s (fast) Earth is the green dot. The other two dots are forward and backward stero satelites that take pictures of the sun.
Image

Clatmandu
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by Clatmandu » 08 March 12 4:41 pm

I had heard on the news here in the states that it could possibly disrupt GPS recievers. Hopefully we will have clear skies and maybe see an aurora.

Rabbitto
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by Rabbitto » 08 March 12 9:13 pm

9:10pm Melbourne time - disappointingly cloudy. Any luck further west?

Red shows extreme radio interference around poles. (Please note: If you are only looking at this picture in a day or two time, there will most likely be no red on it. It is a live link)
Image

juc_cacher
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by juc_cacher » 08 March 12 9:34 pm

AH...well, that explains my inability yet again, to find "Parliament Station" in Melbourne CBD about 5pm then...nothing to do with my incompetence =D> =D> =D>

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gmj3191
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by gmj3191 » 08 March 12 11:04 pm

Certainly upset the Sri Lankan batsmen somewhat ....

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quiet1_au
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by quiet1_au » 09 March 12 6:33 am

Typical - whenever there's the possibility of seeing something interesting in the night sky the clouds move in... I doubt an aurora could be seen in Melbourne, but there was a big geomagnetic storm once that aurora were seen right up to 25 degrees.

I hope the GPS-Sats are affected - I've got my 1000 to get this weekend! [-o<


:-$

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Richary
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by Richary » 09 March 12 6:08 pm

It seems to have been a bit of a fizzer. But no problems driving around with the TomTom today.

The auroral prediction oval had the northernmost view well south of Tasmania, but a bit north of Macquarie Island.

budgietas
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by budgietas » 09 March 12 9:18 pm

Would have been a good time to search for bifrost. At least you could blame something other than your own searching skills!!!

:D :D

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Richary
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Re: Incoming Solar Storm

Post by Richary » 09 March 12 10:59 pm

Looking at tonight's auroral prediction oval it could be visible from Tasmania or Dunedin tonight.

http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/1

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