Nasa scientists braced for 'solar tsunami' to hit earth

[Lewis]

The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion on the sun, scientists have warned.

The solar fireworks at the weekend were recorded by several satellites, including Nasaâ??s new Solar Dynamics Observatory which watched its shock wave rippling outwards.

Astronomers from all over the world witnessed the huge flare above a giant sunspot the size of the Earth, which they linked to an even larger eruption across the surface of Sun.

The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a â??solar tsunamiâ? racing 93 million miles across space.

Images from the SDO hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into space, the New Scientist reported.

Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.

It is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights.

"This eruption is directed right at us," said Leon Golub, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

"It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."

Scientists have warned that a really big solar eruption could destroy satellites and wreck power and communications grids around the globe if it happened today.

Nasa recently warned that Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation â??space stormâ?.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed in June that senior space agency scientists believed the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes â??from a deep slumberâ? sometime around 2013.

It remains unclear, however, how much damage this latest eruption will cause the worldâ??s communication tools.

Dr Lucie Green, of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Surrey, followed the flare-ups using Japan's orbiting Hinode telescope.

"What wonderful fireworks the Sun has been producing,� the UK solar expert said.

â??This was a very rare event â?? not one, but two almost simultaneous eruptions from different locations on the sun were launched toward the Earth.

"These eruptions occur when immense magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere lose their stability and can no longer be held down by the Sun's huge gravitational pull. Just like a coiled spring suddenly being released, they erupt into space.�

She added: "It looks like the first eruption was so large that it changed the magnetic fields throughout half the Sun's visible atmosphere and provided the right conditions for the second eruption.

"Both eruptions could be Earth-directed but may be travelling at different speeds.

â??This means we have a very good chance of seeing major and prolonged effects, such as the northern lights at low latitudes."

A Nasa spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/spac ... earth.html

[The Imperialist]

At the least, we will survive, as we will envelope ourselves around a magnetic field, while jocks will look at this, and start praying for the God they pretended to worship.

[Fat Man]

At the least, we will survive, as we will envelope ourselves around a magnetic field, while jocks will look at this, and start praying for the God they pretended to worship.

Well, we could shut down the satellites and power down the electrical grid and turn off our computers during the solar flare until it passes to protect any delicate electronic components, then once it's over, we can power back up again.

I'm going to be listening on the NEWS for the latest updates.

The last time this happened was back in the 1860s and the telegraph system was disrupted. Some of the telegraph key operators got hit with blue sparks and a few stations caught on fire.

Yeah! Jocks are so stupid. They don't know anything about science nor do they understand natural phenomena. Most jocks have never seen the Aurora Borealis or a meteor shower, or a total eclipse of the sun. The only thing jocks have seen in the night sky is the glare of stadium lights during night games.

Jocks very seldom look up to the sky. That's because they are all hump-backed knuckle-dragging baboons!

When jocks go out at night it's only to play night games or to go out and get drunk and rape our women so they're too damn busy sniffing the ground like dogs, picking up on a female (or male) scent to find someone to exploit and abuse, so they don't have time to look up.

Now, most people have also never seen an Aurora Borealis, except those living in the northern latitudes like up in Alaska or northern Canada so when this phenomena becomes visible in the lower latitudes due to the solar flare, most people will look up and think it's cool while the dumb jocks who don't know shit will think it's the end of the world and piss in their pants.

So, this coming coronal mass ejection might be a good thing.

We will all come to know the jocks as the pussy wussies that they really are!