Click on image for full size
Image courtesy NASA/SOHO.
Sunspots and space weather storms
News story originally written on October 24, 2003
Two very large groups of sunspots have
appeared on the Sun. Each of the groups is about
as big as the planet Jupiter, which is the largest planet in our Solar System!
Sunspots are places on the Sun where the Sun's magnetic
field is all tangled up. These tangled
magnetic fields create storms called solar
flares and CMEs. Some storms from
these two big sunspot groups reached Earth on
Friday, 24 October 2003.
When a space weather storm like this reaches Earth, the radiation from the
storm can cause problems. The storm can damage
satellites and might even make
the electricity go out. Don't worry, though - Earth's
magnetic field does a
pretty good job of protecting us from the radiation. The storms also have a
good side - they create the Northern Lights!
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
books on science education, ranging from
evolution,
classroom research, and the
need for science and math literacy!
You might also be interested in:
"Without warning, the relatively calm solar atmosphere can be torn asunder by sudden outbursts of a scale unknown on Earth. Catastrophic events of incredible energy...stretch up to halfway across the visible
...more
Astronomers have discovered twelve new moons of Jupiter so far in 2003. Jupiter now has a total of 52 moons that we know of. Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, has more moons than any other
...more
On August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars will be closer together than they have been in thousands of years. Mars will pass within 55,758,006 kilometers (34,646,418 miles) from Earth. Astronomers have calculated
...more
Astronomers have recently discovered nine new moons. The astronomers found eight new moons of Jupiter and one new moon of Saturn. We now know of 60 moons orbiting Jupiter and 31 orbiting Saturn. The new
...more
The planet Mercury appeared to cross in front of the Sun on May 7, 2003. Astronomers call the event a transit. A transit is like a solar eclipse. However, a transit occurs when a planet, instead of Earth's
...more
Two very large groups of sunspots have appeared on the Sun. Each of the groups is about as big as the planet Jupiter, which is the largest planet in our Solar System! Sunspots are places on the Sun where
...more
Astronomers have identified another exoplanet, that is, a planet outside our solar system. This makes a total of 102 exoplanets that have so far been found by astronomers! The astronomers that identified
...more
Thanks to a couple of telescopes, everyone on the internet can browse through almost 2 million images. Stars throughout the sky were photographed by the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and are now available
...more
