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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 05:10 PM Jun 2014

Waiting for the Sun to Erupt. (It's OK, We Get a 30-Minute Warning)

By Stephanie Stoughton Jun 20, 2014 12:00 AM ET

Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun. Oh, but Mama, that’s where the fun is.

No one understands that Bruce Springsteen song more than William Murtagh. In a small government office near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Murtagh and other federal employees monitor the sun 24 hours a day, waiting for it to erupt and fling a cloud of superheated, supercharged gas toward Earth.

The Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, sends alerts to power grids, airlines, oil drillers and even pigeon trainers on the risks of geomagnetic storms that can disrupt communications, electric power, and, yes, perhaps the birds’ sense of direction.

The center also may provide the first clue to the worst-case scenario described in academic and government reports: widespread power outages, food shortages and trillions of dollars in economic damages. The reinsurance industry is increasingly sounding alarms, calling space weather a potential hazard in today’s wired world.

While the U.S. has taken steps to prepare for a mega-storm from space, the center is often able to provide only an estimated 30-minute warning of geomagnetic disruptions. The government spends less than $10 million on the facility, which must fight annually for funding within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The little office relies on data from aging satellites it doesn’t control and that need to be replaced.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-20/why-springsteen-had-a-point-about-staring-into-the-sun.html

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Waiting for the Sun to Erupt. (It's OK, We Get a 30-Minute Warning) (Original Post) Purveyor Jun 2014 OP
I monitor the sun on a daily basis and have a good scientific background on the subject. airplaneman Jun 2014 #1
Thanks for the info and link... Purveyor Jun 2014 #2
Well, that makes me feel better packman Jun 2014 #3
2 days is what I thought. I follow it for Aurora watching mainer Jun 2014 #6
Did Bruce Springsteen write that song? Know it was sung by Three Dog Night Hestia Jun 2014 #4
Yes, Bruce Tace Jun 2014 #5
Duh - Manfred Mann! Cool, thanks for the info! Hestia Jul 2014 #7
I thought it was 8 minutes Personal Damon Jul 2014 #8
It takes 8 minutes for the light of the sun to reach earth. Solar winds travel way, way slower than Cal33 Jul 2014 #9
Thank you Personal Damon Jul 2014 #10

airplaneman

(1,237 posts)
1. I monitor the sun on a daily basis and have a good scientific background on the subject.
Fri Jun 20, 2014, 06:52 PM
Jun 2014

We have 2-3 days depending on the solar wind speed before it gets to Earth (not 30 minutes).
The event is called a Coronal Mass Ejection.

Here is a good link to a sun monitoring website.

http://www.ipellejero.es/hf/english/index.html

-Airplane

 

packman

(16,296 posts)
3. Well, that makes me feel better
Sat Jun 21, 2014, 10:06 AM
Jun 2014

Two/three days , hell, that would give me time to run up those credit cards.

mainer

(12,013 posts)
6. 2 days is what I thought. I follow it for Aurora watching
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:46 PM
Jun 2014

When I was in Iceland, we always checked for Coronal events, hoping there'd be activity in a few days.

 

Hestia

(3,818 posts)
4. Did Bruce Springsteen write that song? Know it was sung by Three Dog Night
Sat Jun 21, 2014, 11:30 AM
Jun 2014

Sorry, couldn't let it go

Tace

(6,800 posts)
5. Yes, Bruce
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:20 PM
Jun 2014

From Wikipedia: "Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1976 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann.

 

Cal33

(7,018 posts)
9. It takes 8 minutes for the light of the sun to reach earth. Solar winds travel way, way slower than
Thu Jul 3, 2014, 07:45 PM
Jul 2014

light does.

A hearty welcome to DU.

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