Unknown Potential to Sun's Activities

July 30, 2005

There is a definite 'unknown' potential here that could be very intense in the next few days. Remember these events effect us in many different ways--give lot's of 'room' to friends family and strangers.... Getting a store of candles--(or other sources of alternate energy) may not be a bad idea--as energy sources and communications may be disrupted. Deep Breathing for stress: http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/stress/breath.html Peace and Light

Bea

PS Check out the Breaking News--- 10 th Planet Discoverd in the past week: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050729_new_planet.html

**************************** **************************** SOLAR FLARE: A powerful X-class solar flare erupted from sunspot 792 this morning at 0635 UT. SOHO coronagraph images are not yet available, so we don't know if the blast produced a coronal mass ejection (CME). If it did, auroras are possible tonight or tomorrow when the CME reaches Earth. Stay tuned for updates. Would you like a call when the space shuttle zooms over your backyard? Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE. 10th PLANET: Astronomers have found a new world bigger than Pluto in the outer reaches of our solar system. Get the full story from Science (AT) NASA (DOT) SUNSPOTS: Sunspot 792, which rounded the sun's eastern limb yesterday, poses a growing threat for Earth-directed explosions--and that's not all. At least one more active region could emerge in the days ahead. Towering magnetic fields jutting over the sun's eastern limb--the same place sunspot 792 came from--signal a new batch of sunspots approaching.

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X-Class Flare Fires Off and Space Walkers Given OK

by Mitch Battros – ECTV

Sometime this morning, an X-Class flare fired off from the Sun. At approximately 4:46 AM CST, the two scheduled space walkers were given the OK to engage. Was this a good idea? Well let’s see what the top officials at NOAA Space Weather Center have to say.

Today’s X-Class Flare: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/xray_5mBL.html

Radiation Hazards to Humans

Intense solar flares release very-high-energy particles that can be as injurious to humans as the low-energy radiation from nuclear blasts. Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere allow adequate protection for us on the ground, but astronauts in space are subject to potentially lethal dosages of radiation. The penetration of high-energy particles into living cells, measured as radiation dose, leads to chromosome damage and, potentially, cancer. Large doses can be fatal immediately. Solar protons with energies greater than 30 MeV are particularly hazardous. In October 1989, the Sun produced enough energetic particles that an astronaut on the Moon, wearing only a space suit and caught out in the brunt of the storm, would probably have died. (Astronauts who had time to gain safety in a shelter beneath moon soil would have absorbed only slight amounts of radiation.)

Solar proton events can also produce elevated radiation aboard aircraft flying at high altitudes. Although these risks are small, monitoring of solar proton events by satellite instrumentation allows the occasional exposure to be monitored and evaluated.

You can read more about solar activities danger to the space shuttle, space station, and space walkers in “Solar Rain”. Chapter 7 “Solar Flares, CME’s, and The Equation”, Chapter 8 “Tomorrow’s Weather Forecast – The Super-duper Doppler Weatherman”, and Chapter 12 “The Sun and Human-Animal Behavior.

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http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/07/29/Arctic-ice050729.html

Scientists sound alarm on Arctic ice capLast Updated Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:00:13 EDT CBC News

Satellite data for the month of June shows Arctic sea ice shrunk to a record low for the month, raising concerns about climate change, coastal erosion, and changes to wildlife patterns.

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