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Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:58 pm
by RobertTubbs
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/spac ... rites.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/spac ... earth.html

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It's quite common for folks with neutron counters to be able to detect flares and CME's as seen by Richard's unwavering ability to keep good records of neutron activity... I suggest anyone with a counter keep their eye's and ears peeled for the next few days.

Here are some additional links and posts to this subject starting with the coolest and obviously most handy to those of you without counters... A round the clock neutron monitor that was many moons ago posted by Richard in his post on the suns effect on neutron background seen here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5378&hilit=flare#p33822
http://helios.izmiran.rssi.ru/cosray/main.htm

Another one of Richard's posts involving the 2003 November CME.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5951&hilit=cme#p39327

Out of all of us Richard undoubtedly keeps the best records. Kudos to you.

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I live for this stuff!
RT

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:48 pm
by Richard Hull
I don't keep daily records, but do check it out about once each month or when a large CME is noted.

Thanks for the update.

Richard Hull

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:49 pm
by RobertTubbs
Better than me!

RT

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:26 pm
by Larry Upjohn
As always I am usually presenting some well known facts. Just a reminder that
Spaceweather.com has detailed solar data available including nice up to the minute solar wind flux data. Does not include neutron counts but otherwise gives good account of current solar activity. There is a new solar satellite aloft that gives some remarkably detailed solar images as well brought to you thanks to all of us via tax "contributions". More later, Larry Upjohn.

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:15 pm
by Nicker
Nice picture from NASA.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/ ... 0-cme.html


On August 1st around 0855 UT, Earth orbiting satellites detected a C3-class solar flare. The origin of the blast was Earth-facing sunspot 1092. C-class solar flares are small (when compared to X and M-class flares) and usually have few noticeable consequences here on Earth besides aurorae. This one has spawned a coronal mass ejection heading in Earth's direction.

Coronal mass ejections (or CMEs) are large clouds of charged particles that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours and can carry up to ten billion tons (1016 grams) of plasma. They expand away from the Sun at speeds as high as a million miles an hour. A CME can make the 93-million-mile journey to Earth in just three to four days.

When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, it interacts with our planet’s magnetic field, potentially creating a geomagnetic storm. Solar particles stream down the field lines toward Earth’s poles and collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, resulting in spectacular auroral displays. On the evening of August 3rd/4th, skywatchers in the northern U.S. and other countries should look toward the north for the rippling dancing “curtains” of green and red light.

The Sun goes through a regular activity cycle about 11 years long. The last solar maximum occurred in 2001 and its recent extreme solar minimum was particularly weak and long lasting. These kinds of eruptions are one of the first signs that the Sun is waking up and heading toward another solar maximum expected in the 2013 time frame.

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:16 pm
by Frank Sanns
I turned on one of my small He3 tubes on today and recorded a normal 6 to 7 cpm daytime background rate until around 18:00 UTC. At that time the rate was up to 8 cpm and remained steady until this past hour. It is now 2:00 UTC 8/4/2010 and the cout rate has jumped to 11 to 12 cpm.


Frank Sanns

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:26 pm
by tligon
A few years back I was calibrating magnetometers outdoors when a huge CME was forecast. I fixed a triaxial fluxgate magnetometer to a board and anchored it outdoors to record the event. One axis changed 700 nT in the course of an hour. Supposedly this event blew the magnetosphere away clean down to the top of the atmosphere.

The ISS crew were probably huddled in an airlock like sardines. That's what they use for a radiation shelter.

The event made the news. It caused a bright red aurora plainly visible in Virginia (incredibly rare) and broke all kinds of records.

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:30 pm
by Tyler Christensen
Counts still look normal here, 6.8CPM on a Reuter Stokes 3He tube, Usually in high 6 or mid 7 range. I'll check again later on, but it's been normal all day.

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:19 am
by Nicker
Also if you want to know if you'll be able to see the Aurora tonight, here's tips on viewing the aurora:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/#kpmaps
(figuring out your magnetic latitude, then checking the chart what the Kp has to be for a visible aurora.)

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html
This is the site that displays the Kp.

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:03 pm
by Richard Hull
Frank and I have seen jumps.

Last night I went home and cranked up the neutron counting system and let it stabilize for about 1 hour. During this period 5-6pm I got 4 -10 minute counts that averaged about 6.8 cpm the following data is given. All EDT

18:33-18:44 7.5cpm
19:02-19:12 9.1 cpm
19:15 -19:25 12.1cpm
19:40-19:50 9.0 cpm
20:00 -20:10 8.1 cpm
20:17 - 20:27 7.6 cpm
20:31 - 20:41 6.8cpm
20:44 - 20:54 6.6 cpm
20:59 - 21:09 6.0 cpm
21:11 - 21:21 6.2 cpm
21:29 - 21:39 6.4 cpm

I think that peak was real. Wish I could have started earlier and been more attentive during the event, but was busy in the lab and walked my usual mile with the old gal from about 19:15 when I started the peak run until 19:35 or so, right in the middle of the event. $%#@&*. It was cloudy here.

Richard Hull

Re: Big Solar Flares This Week Get Your Counters Ready!

Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:28 pm
by Jon Rosenstiel
This time we got a classic Forbush decrease.
Screen capture from: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu/

Jon Rosenstiel