Burning Sun
October 20th 2007 06:58
A new discovery could provide quicker warning of impending coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Whereby anything up to a billion ton of super hot gas can erupt from the Sun, triggering radiation storms near Earth. The CMEs have damaged numerous satellites in the past especially communication satellites and may expose astronauts to dangerous doses of radiation.
Many astronauts have reported seeing white streaks of lights even when they covered their eyes this is due to the high speed cosmic partials reaching the retina in the back of the eyes.
A team of international scientists made the upgrade warning procedure. A team member for NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, explained the development May 29 at the American Astronomical Society conference in Honolulu. The NASA’s team members found a way to use the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Wind, another Sun watching satellite, to identify storm stirring CMEs.
View the coronal mass ejection of the sun video
The scientists scrutinised 472 CMEs from 1996 to 2005. As CMEs move through space, they plough through the solar wind a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. Some CMEs accelerate atomic nuclei in the solar wind enough to produce severe radiation. They also boost electrons to high speeds, producing a distinctive radio "scream” that can be picked up on radio receivers and disrupts communication and electrical power.
The scream travels at the speed of light, faster than the radiation producing shock wave. The NASA team say that could provide "a few tens of minutes to a couple of hours warning ' for astronauts and satellite operators to prepare or shut down satellite operations . This can make a great deal of difference as it allows the astronauts to put on radiation suits or in the case of International Space Station move to a more radiation shielded area.
CME from the Sun
Many astronauts have reported seeing white streaks of lights even when they covered their eyes this is due to the high speed cosmic partials reaching the retina in the back of the eyes.
A team of international scientists made the upgrade warning procedure. A team member for NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, explained the development May 29 at the American Astronomical Society conference in Honolulu. The NASA’s team members found a way to use the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Wind, another Sun watching satellite, to identify storm stirring CMEs.
View the coronal mass ejection of the sun video
The scientists scrutinised 472 CMEs from 1996 to 2005. As CMEs move through space, they plough through the solar wind a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. Some CMEs accelerate atomic nuclei in the solar wind enough to produce severe radiation. They also boost electrons to high speeds, producing a distinctive radio "scream” that can be picked up on radio receivers and disrupts communication and electrical power.
The scream travels at the speed of light, faster than the radiation producing shock wave. The NASA team say that could provide "a few tens of minutes to a couple of hours warning ' for astronauts and satellite operators to prepare or shut down satellite operations . This can make a great deal of difference as it allows the astronauts to put on radiation suits or in the case of International Space Station move to a more radiation shielded area.
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