Solar Flare – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com Open Source Entertainment, on Demand. Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:42:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.3 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Solar Flare – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com 32 32 End of the World? | SciByte 75 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/29071/end-of-the-world-scibyte-75/ Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:47:38 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=29071 We take a look at the science of a few "end of the world" ideas, a few astronomy gift ideas, DARPA's Probe Droid, the new Space Station crew, and more!

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We take a look at the science of a few “end of the world” ideas, a few astronomy gift ideas, DARPA’s Probe Droid, the new Space Station crew, spacecraft updates, Curiosity news and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

End of the World?

— NEWS BYTE —

Holiday Gift Ideas

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

DARPA … Probe Droid?

  • The low down
  • This UAV is capable of both hover and wing-borne flight, making the delivery and precision emplacement of a payload possible
  • A special robotic arm was designed with the capability of carrying up to 1 pound.
  • The low-cost vision system enables the UAV to autonomously search, find and track a target’s position relative to the hovering vehicle
  • The newly developed stereo vision system tracks the target and motion of the robotic arm.
  • The control logic maneuvers the vehicle and direct the robotic arm to accurately engage the emplacement target.
  • Vehicle stability can be maintained with the arm extended 6 feet with a 1-pound payload.
  • The goal was to show the team could quickly develop and integrate the right technology to make this work
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube V-Bat VTOL UAV | Headed to Target
  • YouTube V-Bat VTOL UAV | Search for and Find Target
  • YouTube V-Bat VTOL UAV | Arm Places Object
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • What an unmanned aerial vehicle can do with depth perception | phys.org

Snapshot Serengeti

  • The low down
  • Researchers at the University of Minnesota have been trying to count and locate the animals of the Serengeti, and began placing automatic cameras across the park a couple of years ago.
  • They now have more than 200 cameras around the region – all triggered by motion – capturing animals day and night.
  • They have amassed millions of images so far, and more come in all the time. So they’ve team up with us here at the Zooniverse!
  • They need the help of online volunteers to spot and classify animals in these snapshot of life in Serengeti National Park. Doing this will provide the data needed to track and study these animals, whilst giving everyone the chance to see them in the wild.
  • Snapshot Serengeti

– SPACECRAFT UPDATE –

GRAIL End of Mission

International Space Station – Expedition 34

– UPDATE –

The Higgs=Boson steps closer to certainty

  • The low down
  • The latest research findings from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN show that the CMS and ATLAS experiments are now reporting that the significance of their observation of the Higgs-like particle is standing close to the 7 sigma level
  • This is well beyond the 5 required for a discovery, and that the new particle’s properties appear to be consistent with those of a Standard Model Higgs boson.
  • Even with these results much further analysis is needed to reveal the full details of its identity
  • The next update is scheduled for the spring 2013 conferences although with the LHC shutting down after the new year and resuming operations in 2015, we’ll probably have to wait some time longer.
  • Of Note
  • 5 Sigma is 1 in about 1.7 million (1,744,278)
  • 7 Sigma is 1 in about 390 billion (390,682,215,445)
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • CMS, ATLAS experiments report Higgs-like particle close to the 7 sigma level | phys.org

– CURIOSITY UPDATE –

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • Dec 22 1882 : 130 years ago : Christmas tree lights : The first string of electric lights decorating a Christmas tree was created for his home by Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison. Previously, trees had been decorated with wax candles. The Dec 1901 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal advertised the Christmas tree lamps, first made commercially by the Edison General Electric Co. of Harrison, N.J. in strings of nine sockets, each with a miniature 2 candlepower, 32-volt, carbon-filament lamp*. Christmas tree lights quickly became the rage among wealthy Americans, but the average citizen didn’t use them until the 1920s or later. Character light bulbs became popular in the 1920s, bubble lights in the 1940s, twinkle bulbs in the 1950s and plastic bulbs by 1955. Image

Looking up this week

The post End of the World? | SciByte 75 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Solar Storms & Higgs Boson | SciByte 37 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/17947/solar-storms-higgs-boson-scibyte-37/ Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:00:54 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=17947 We take a look at recent solar activity, new ideas and imaging of the Titantic, Higgs Boson particles, Dinosaur feathers, dust devils on Mars, and more!

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We take a look at recent solar activity, new ideas and imaging of the Titantic, Higgs Boson particles, Dinosaur feathers, transparent electrodes, dust devils on Mars, viewer feeedback and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

The power of the Sun

*— NEWS BYTE — *

How the moon might have affected the Titanic

  • The low down
  • There is some evidence that and unusually close approach by the moon on Jan. 4, 1912, may have caused abnormally high tides
  • An uncommon event occurred on that Jan. 4 when the moon and sun lined up in such a way their gravitational pulls enhanced each other, well-known as a “spring tide"
  • Significance
  • Researchers looked to see if configuration maximized the moon’s tide-raising forces on Earth’s oceans enhanced tides caused increased glacial calving to reach the shipping lanes by April
  • Normally, icebergs can not move southward until they’ve melted enough to re-float or a high enough tide frees them a process that can take several years
  • However the unusually high tide in Jan. 1912 would have been enough to dislodge many of those icebergs and move them back into the southbound ocean currents
  • The high tide would have allowed them to travel southward much faster than typical, could explain the abundant icebergs in April of 1912
  • * Of Note*
  • Researchers have recently assembled what’s believed to be the first comprehensive map of the entire 3-by–5-mile Titanic debris field
  • Sonar imaging and more than 100,000 photos taken from underwater robots have been assembled to create the map
  • The mapping took place in the summer of 2010 during an expedition to the Titanic led by RMS Titanic Inc., the legal custodian of the wreck who was joined by other groups, as well as the cable History channel
  • Details on the new findings have not being revealed yet, the network will air them in a two-hour documentary on April 15, exactly 100 years after the Titanic sank
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Full Titanic site mapped for 1st time @ physorg.com
  • The iceberg’s accomplice: Did the moon sink the Titanic? @ physorg.com

HiggsBoson

*— TWO-BYTE NEWS — *

More Dinosaur feathers get color

  • * You might Recall *
  • Feedback & Space Lego’s | SciByte 31 (Jan 31, 2012) – Dinosaur feather colors
  • The low down
  • A team of American and Chinese researchers have uncovered the color and detailed feather pattern for the Microraptor, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that lived about 130 million years ago
  • Four-winged dinosaur’s feathers were black with iridescent sheen
  • The fossilized plumage, which had hues of black and blue like a crow, it the earliest record of iridescent feather color
  • Significance
  • Feather color is produced partially by arrays of pigment-bearing organelles called melanosomes, melanosome’s structure is constant for a given color
  • Using the power of scanning electron microscopes, paleontologists have begun to analyze the shape of the fossilized melanosemos and compating then to living birds.
  • Paleontologists have also made predictions about the purpose of the dinosaur’s tail
  • Once thought to be teardrop-shaped used in flight is actually much narrower with two elongate feathers
  • Researchers not believe it to be ornamental, and used in social interactions like courtship
  • * Of Note*
  • Although its anatomy is very similar to birds, Mircroraptor is considered a non-avian dinosaur placed in the group of dinosaurs called dromaeosaurs that includes Velociraptor
  • Previously the Microraptor was considered a nocturnal animal, but glossy plumage is not a trait found in modern day birds.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • ScienceShot: Flashy Feathers @ Sciencemag.org
  • Four-winged dinosaur’s feathers were black with iridescent sheen @ physorg.com

Transparent Electrodes

  • The low down
  • Scientists have shown that ultra-thin sheets of an exotic material remain transparent and highly conductive even after being deeply flexed 1,000 times and folded and creased like a piece of paper.
  • The basic structural is a five-layer sandwich made up of alternating single-atom sheets of selenium and bismuth stacked on top of each other as thicker samples are made
  • Selenium-selenium bonds between the units are weak which provides an overall material to flex durably without being damaged
  • Significance
  • Experiments also showed that bismuth selenide does not degrade significantly in humid environments or when exposed to oxygen treatments that are common in manufacturing
  • This material will solve the problem modern transparent electrodes on the surfaces of most cells as they are either too fragile or not transparent or conducting enough,
  • In solar cells roughly half the solar energy that hits the Earth comes in the form of infrared light, and few of today’s solar cells are able to collect it
  • It may also be useful in communications devices, by improving infrared sensors common in scientific equipment and aerospace systems.”
  • * Of Note*
  • The combination has been testing with sheets of bismuth and selenium, each just one atom thick, to form five-layer units.
  • The bonds between the units are weak, allowing the overall material to flex while retaining its durability
  • The material itself conducts electricity only on its surface while its interior remains insulating and is as good as gold as an electrical conductor
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Exotic material shows promise as flexible, transparent electrode @ physorg.com

Martian Dust Devil

  • The low down
  • The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been examining Mars with six science instruments since 2006
  • Mars orbiters, rovers and landers have all captured devils in action before
  • A towering dust devil, casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in an image acquired by the High Resolution Imaging
  • Significance
  • Unlike a tornado, a dust devil typically forms on a clear day
  • The ground is heated by the sun, warming the air just above the ground, heated air near the surface rises quickly through a small pocket of cooler air above it and the air may begin to rotate, if conditions are just right.
  • It lofted a twisting column of dust more than half a mile [800 meters] high, and had approximately a 90ft [30 yards] radius Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  • * Of Note*
  • Like on Earth, winds on Mars are powered by solar heating
  • Mars is now farthest from the Sun, and exposure to the Sun’s rays is now less, the dust devils are still moving dust around on Mars’ surface
  • This mission has returned more data about Mars than all other orbital and surface missions combined and can reveal features as small as a desk
  • More than 21,700 images taken by HiRISE are available for viewing on the instrument team’s website
  • Twitter : HiRISE@HiRISE
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Huge Dust Devil on Mars Captured in Action @ UniverseToday.com
  • Mars orbiter catches twister in action @ PhysOrg.com
  • Photo from NASA Mars orbiter shows wind’s handiwork (Jan 2012) @ PhysOrg.com

Fossilized circle of life

Accurate Clock

  • The low down
  • Atomic Clock – A precision clock that depends for its operation on an electrical oscillator regulated by the natural vibration frequencies of an atomic system
  • A new time-keeping device is tied to the orbiting of a neutron around a nucleus of an atom
  • The clock would remain accurate to within 1/20th of a second over 14billion years, making it nearly 100 times more accurate than the best atomic clocks we have now
  • You might ask or note that ‘Neutrons’ do not ‘orbit’, that the orbiting items are electrons
  • Scientists are proposing to use lasers to orient the electrons in a specific way, then observing the neutrons as they rotate around the nucleus
  • Because the neutron is so close to the center of the atom the oscillation rate is nearly unaffected by external perturbations compared to the electron
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube VIDEO : Atom Animation
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Proposed nuclear clock may keep time with the Universe @ spacedaily.com
  • Proposed nuclear clock may keep time with the Universe @ physorg.com

SPACECRAFT UPDATE – GRAIL Moon Probes Ebb and Flow

*— VIEWER FEEDBACK — *

Archeology in Space

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back

  • March 19 1800 : 212 years ago : Electric eels : Electric eels were captured by Alexander von Humoldt with Aimé Bonpland. They were on a five-year expedition in the jungles of South America, on the way to the Orinoco river, where at Calabozo they discovered swamps crowded with electric eels, Electrophorus electricus. During their scientific investigation of the behaviour of the eels, the scientists received massive electric shocks. Humboldt reported a severe lack of feeling in his joints for the better part of a day after standing directly on an electric eel. They learned that horses had been killed by them. Humboldt published an article Observation on the Electric Eel of the New World in 1808
  • March 16, 1926 : 86 years ago : Goddard Rocket : The first US liquid-fuel rocket flight was launched by Robert Goddard in a field in Auburn, Mass. He thought stable flight could be obtained by mounting the rocket ahead of the fuel tank. The tank was shielded from the flame by a metal cone and was pulled behind the rocket by the lines for gasoline fuel and oxygen. The design worked, but did not produce the hoped-for stability. The rocket burned about 20 seconds before reaching sufficient thrust (or sufficiently lightening the fuel tank) for taking off. During that time it melted part of the nozzle. It took off to a height of 41-ft, leveled off and within 2.5 seconds hit the ground 184 feet away, averaging about 60 mph. The camera ran out of film, so no photographic record of that flight remains.

Looking up this week

The post Solar Storms & Higgs Boson | SciByte 37 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Solar Storms & Private Space Flight | SciByte 30 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/16276/solar-storms-private-space-flight-scibyte-30/ Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:40:15 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=16276 We take a look at the recent solar flare, SpaceX's plans for reaching the space station, dolphin speech, getting energy from seaweed, and more!

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We take a look at the recent solar flare, SpaceX’s plans for reaching the space station, dolphin speech, exoplanets, getting energy from seaweed, crowd sourcing earthquake data, spacecraft updates, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Support the Show:

   

Show Notes:

You might have seen meets ‘Breaking’ Science with Coronal Mass Ejection

*— NEWS BYTE — *

SpaceX Space Station resupply mission resceduled

Do dolphins talk in their sleep?

  • The low down
  • A group of dolphins born in captivity were performing in their shows every day
  • Performing dolphins are primed to learn and remember information
  • During their show music and sounds were played in the background, a new track included music, sea gulls, dolphin whistles and humpback whale calls
  • Significance
  • Because little is known about the nighttime sounds of dolphins researchers had hand hung underwater microphones into the dolphins tank at night
  • One night they discovered that they had produces 25 new sounds that they had never made before
  • When playing back the tapes the researcher found that the new sounds sounded similar to whale songs
  • A new sound track including
  • When analyzed by a computer program the two sounds were very similar
  • When 20 human volunteers were asked to listen to and identify the dolphin nocturnal sounds and humpback whale songs, 76% of the time they classifies the imitations as sounds from real whales
  • Since the dolphins did not make the noises during the day, it indicates that they wanted to wait to practice the sounds at night
  • Of interest is finding out if the dolphins are asleep and dreaming during the time they are making the noises
  • If the dolphins are dreaming it might indicate that, like humans, they etch new information into memories during sleep
  • Next for the research is to take electroencephalogram recordings of the dolphins’ brains at night to determine if they are asleep during the time they make the sounds
  • * Of Note*
  • Before the whale sounds sound track was added to the show the dolphins did not make produces the ‘humpback whale song’
  • Some scientists are not convinced saying that dolphins make so many different sounds that it would be too difficult to quantitatively identify one as an imitation of a particular sound
  • Dolphins are known for mimicry and songbirds rehearse imitations of sounds at night, it is not all that unlikely that if they mimicking dolphins might do the same
  • Multimedia
  • Page with clips of sounds
  • Social Media
  • Science Mag News @ScienceNOW
  • Facebook : ScienceNOWhttps://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Do Dolphins Speak Whale in Their Sleep? @ news.sciencemag.org
  • Do dolphins rehearse show-stimuli when at rest? Delayed matching of auditory memory @ frontiersin.org

Supercritical water and homeless exoplanets

  • The low down
  • The size of a planet can be measured indirectly by analyzing the amount of dimming of a star when the planets transits, and the mass can be identified though ground based measurements of how much gravitational force the planet excerpts on it’s star.
  • From those measurements the density of a planet can be roughly calculated
  • Exoplanets themselves are estimated to outnumber the stars in out galaxy by almost two-to-one
  • One such planet scientist have been analyzing is 55 Cancri, a rocky planet about 7.8 times the size of the Earth, orbiting relatively closely to it’s sun and 40 light-years away from Earth .
  • Significance
  • New observations of a this explanet suggest that about a fifth of the planet’s mass must be made up of light elements and compounds, including water
  • Since this planet if thought to have surface temperatures as high as 4,800 F [2,700 C] this planet is a much weirder planet than originally thought to be
  • The high temperature and pressure conditions on this planet are so extreme the liquids likely exist in a supercritical state
  • Super-critical fluids can best be imagined as liquid-like gases in high pressure and temperature conditions, water becomes supercritical in some steam turbines
  • These superritical fluids could be seeping up from the outer layers of the planets crust, giving scientists an interesting study of a planet
  • * Of Note*
  • Perhaps even stranger is that almost 75% of the exoplants in our galaxy might be ‘free-floating’ planets no longer orbiting a star
  • Some suspected free-floating planets have already been observed and it has been speculated that those free-floating exoplanets would be from gravitationally unstable orbits
  • Recent computer simulations indicate there may be more exotic reasons for the planets to be ejected.
  • One simulation blames end of life stars that expand into red giants litterely pushing their planets into interstellar space
  • Another simulation blames gravitational forces by passing stars, planetary system moving either in or out of a galacy’s dense spiral arms, or interactions with dense molecular clouds
  • The most likely reason for ejection of exoplanets would be from parent stars being gravitationally acted upon in tightly packed star clusters
  • Multimedia
  • VIDEO : Oozing planet @ Space.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Weird World! ‘Oozing’ Alien Planet Is a Super-Earth Wonder @ Space.com
  • ScienceShot: Why So Many Homeless Planets? @ news.sciencemag.org

Running your car with … seaweed?

  • The low down
  • Biofuel is energy from biological material from living or recently living organisms, biomass, that use carbon to grow
  • Using seaweed to create biomass has been a sought after source of biofuel for years as it is full of the sugars needed for the process
  • Seaweed also grows very fast, does not compete for land with crops, and requires no fertilizer or freshwater
  • If a process could be made to meet a certain efficiency it would broaden the biofuels possibilities
  • Significance
  • Unfortunately the gummy cell walls of seaweed make it very hard to get the needed components to make biofuel, making it difficult to compete with other forms of biomass.
  • Researchers have now engineered a bacterium that has the ability to break down those cell walls so that ethanol and other useful products can be gained
  • The process was developed by combining several enzymes that could convert the interior into fuel,
  • The researchers then used the cellular transportation system to inject the combination so that it would secrete the enzyme
  • * Of Note*
  • Currently the bacteria yields approximately 80% of it’s theoretical maximum of ethenol, with further tweaking that number may go even higher
  • Partially broken down product could be used in processes for making nylons or plastics
  • The newly engineered E.coli has no danger of escaping into the environment and consuming seaweed, as it lives best in the human gut, and would likely die in an ocean environment in a short period of time
  • Multimedia
  • IMAGE GALLERY: Top 10 Sources for Biofuel @ news.discovery.com
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Genetically Engineered Stomach Microbe Converts Seaweed into Ethanol @ scientificamerican.com
  • Seaweed Biofuel Breakthrough Found @ News.Discovery.com
  • Seaweed study fuels bioenergy enthusiasm @ ScienceNews.org

Crowd sourcing hits earthquakes

  • The low down
  • We mentioned before what social media can do to help the medical community track outbreaks of communicable diseases
  • Seismologists are now getting on the social media tracking band wagon
  • In the past seismologists have relied on sensors in the vicinity of an earthquake and post anecdotal evidence from interviews of people who experienced it
  • Significance
  • There have already been instances where citizen-generated reports have had value in information gathering for earthquakes
  • Scientists had begun to set up websites specifically for people to add what they know about an earthquake to existing data
  • Being a public system seismologists can filter Twitter messages so focus on earthquake related messages, giving researchers real time data as people message about the earthquake
  • Also available to the public are seismic monitors that can attach to building, public or private, to send data via WiFi to designated research facilities
  • In addition to social media there are also Smartphone apps that are available that can be used to turn the phone itself into a vibration sensing device when it is not being carried
  • Other new sensors will become available as interest increases
  • * Of Note*
  • As these new sources of information become available it increases the amount and density of the observational and scientific data
  • More data from earthquakes gives scientists more detailed information about earthquakes, which increases the understanding of them
  • The ability to understand the precursors of an earthquake or even what leads to earthquakes will increase the prediction models
  • Multimedia
  • VIDEO : Page with video about crowdsourcing earthquakes @ physorg.com
  • Social Media
  • Twitter Results for [#earthquake](https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23earthquake)
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Scientists turning to crowdsourcing to gather more information about earthquakes @ PhysOrg.com
  • Transforming Earthquake Detection? @ sciencemag.org

SPACECRAFT UPDATE

New Horizons

Opportunity Rover

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back

  • Jan 27, 1888 : 124 years ago : National Geographic Society founded : The National Geographic Society was established with Gardiner Greene Hubbard as its first president. Two weeks earlier, on 13 Jan 1888, 33 founders in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., had met at the Cosmo Club in Lafayette Square, across from the White House. Their mission was to establish “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” By Oct 1888, the first National Geographic Magazine was published as a society membership benefit, which continues its monthly issues to the present with photographs and popular articles now expanded from topics of geography and exploration to science, history and world cultures. The society has awarded over 9,000 grants for scientific research, and sponsors a museum and travelling exhibits.
  • Jan 27, 1957 : 55 years ago : Hearts get a portable jump-start](todayinsci.com) : In 1957, an external artificial pacemaker with internal heart electrode is first used. To maintain a patient’s heartbeat rhythm an electrode was sewn to the wall of the heart and connected through the chest to an external desk-top pulse generator. A team of scientists at the University of Minnesota, led by Dr C. Walton Lillehei, made this medical advance. However, such bulky equipment was not a good long-term solution since infection often occurred along the electrode wires, and the device required no interruption in the house electricity. So Dr. Lillehei also initiated research on the use of a small portable external pacemaker for these patients with heart block. This ultimately led to the development of the billion-dollar pacemaker industry.
  • Jan 30, 1958 : 54 years ago : Please be careful stepping on or off the platform](todayinsci.com) : Although the first moving sidewalk was a whopping 119 years ago, at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. The first two-way, moving sidewalk, 1,425 feet long, was put in service at Love Field Air Terminal in Dallas, TX. It consisted of three loops. In each loop a continuous rubber carpet was attached to a continuous train of wheeled pallets, flexibly interconnected so they could follow vertical or horizontal curves as required. It was known not only as a moving sidewalk, but also as a passenger conveyor. more icon

Looking up this week

The post Solar Storms & Private Space Flight | SciByte 30 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Solar Storms | SciByte 7 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/10216/solar-storms-scibyte-7/ Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:04:41 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=10216 We take a look at Solar weather; what it is and how we view it. We also take a look at how all that solar weather affects us here on Earth.

The post Solar Storms | SciByte 7 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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This week on SciByte …
We take a look at Solar weather; what it is and how we view it. We also take a look at how all that solar weather affects us here on Earth.

All that and more, on SciByte!

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Show Notes:

The Sun

  • Average Star – informally designated as a yellow dwarf, because its visible radiation is most intense in the yellow-green portion of the spectrum and although its color is white, from the surface of the Earth it may appear yellow because of atmospheric scattering of blue light
  • About one million Earths could fit inside the sun.
  • Diameter :  ~865,000 mi / ~1,392,000 km / 109 x Earth
  • Mass : 4.38×10^30 lb / 1.99×10^30  kg / 333,000 × Earth
  • Consists of 99.86% of mass of Solar System
  • Chemically : ~3/4 of the mass is Hydrogen, rest mostly Helium
    • Less than 2% consist of heavier elements [Oxygen, Carbon, Neon, Iron, ect]

SAFETY

  • DO NOT look directly at the Sun with naked eye,with binoculars or a telescope
    • there are Solar scopes, but if your not sure you are gambling with your vision!
  • Looking at the sun causes temporary partial blindness
  • Delivers ~4miliwatts of sunlight to the retina, slightly heating it and potentially causing damage in eyes that cannot respond properly to the brightness

UV Exposure

  • Eyes : Cataracts – gradually yellows the lens of the eye over a period of years and is thought to contribute to the formation of cataracts
  • Eyes : UV Exposure can actually give you sunburn like lesions on your retina [~90sec]
  • Can mutate DNA by causing adjacent bases bond with each other, instead of across the “ladder.” This makes a bulge, and the distorted DNA molecule does not function properly. [PIC]
  • Skin : Sunburn – a reaction of the body to the direct DNA damage, which can result from the excitation of DNA by UV-B light. This damage is mainly the formation of a thymine [one of four chemical bases in DNA] dimer. The damage is recognized by the body, which then triggers several defense mechanisms, including DNA repair to revert the damage and increased melanin production to prevent future damage. Melanin transforms UV-photons quickly into harmless amounts of heat without generating free radicals, and is therefore an excellent photoprotectant against direct and indirect DNA damage. [ Video ]
  • Skin : Ultraviolet (UV) radiation bears responsibility for 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers, which will afflict one out of every five Americans, and 65 percent of melanoma cases, which kill about 8,700 people a year.
  • Sunblock – absorbs or reflects some of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin exposed to sunlight and thus helps protect against sunburn [made of Organic and inorganic particulates that reflect, scatter, and absorb UV light]
  • Sunblock : come off the skin (particularly when exposed to water or toweled off) but their chemical components break down over time. To preserve the efficiency of sunscreens, the products should be stored in a cool, dry place and replaced every year. In addition, they should be reapplied at least every two hours or more frequently if exposed to water or rubbed off.
    • FDA Regulation changes : Broad Spectrum : Under the new rules, only products that protect skin from both UVA and UVB sun rays can be marked “broad spectrum,” and sunscreen that does not meet the broad spectrum requirements, or that has a sun protection factor (SPF) of less than 15, must carry a warning that the product does not diminish the risk of skin cancer or prevent premature skin aging.
    • FDA Regulation Change : Water resistance : Under the new regulations, water-resistant formulas must say on the label how long the product will protect skin before needing to be reapplied, either 40 or 80 minutes.
    • FDA Regulation Change : “Water/sweat Proof” : Manufacturers cannot label sunscreens as “waterproof” or “sweatproof,” or identify their products as “sunblocks,” because these claims overstate their effectiveness.
    • FDA Regulation Change : SPF #’s : FDA proposed a rule that would cap advertised SPF at “50 +”, because the evidence that more expensive, higher-SPF products provide more skin protection is lacking. Many who wear high-SPF sunscreen spend more time in the sun and reapply less frequently than those whose sunscreen has a lower SPF.

Solar Cycle

  • Solar magnetic activity cycle, periodic change in the amount of irradiation from the sun that is experienced on Earth. It has a period of about 11 years
  • The cycle is observed by counting the frequency and placement of sunspots visible on the Sun.
  • Most of the Suns variations are related to the solar magnetic field, which is caused by the moving plasma inside the rotating Sun, which make a dynamo (another name for an electrical generator)

Solar Flare

  • Occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.
  • Radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to x-rays and gamma rays at the short wavelength end.
  • The amount of energy released is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time!
  • They occur near sunspots, usually along the dividing line (neutral line) between areas of oppositely directed magnetic fields.

Solar Prominence

  • A large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun’s surface, often in a loop shape [Video] [Video] [Video] [Pic] [Pic]
  • Some can sometimes last for many months, during which lengthy observations can be carried out by observatories.
  • Some prominences break apart and give rise to coronal mass ejections.

Coronal Mass Ejections [CME]

  • A massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space
  • At solar minimum we observe about one CME a week. Near solar maximum we observe an average of 2 to 3 CMEs per day

Solar Energetic Particles (SEP)

  • high-energy particles coming from the Sun, consist of protons, electrons and heavy ions.  These can endanger life in outer space. [Reach ~80% the speed of light]
  • originate from two processes: energetization at a solar flare site or by about 1% of shock waves associated with Coronal Mass Ejection
  • They do however provide a good sample of solar material. By studying the isotopic composition of SEPs, scientists can obtain an indirect measurement of the material which formed the solar system, and thus learn about its origins.

Aurora

  • Auroras result from emissions of photons in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, above 80 km (50 miles)
    • solar wind, a rarefied flow of hot plasma (gas of free electrons and positive ions) emitted by the Sun in all directions
    • Usually reaches Earth with a velocity around (250mi/s | 400 km/s) During magnetic storms flows can be several times faster
    • Earth’s magnetosphere is formed by the impact of the solar wind on the Earth’s magnetic field. It forms an obstacle to the solar wind, diverting it  [Video]
    • The magnetosphere is full of trapped plasma as the solar wind passes the Earth.
    • The flow of plasma into the magnetosphere increases with increases in solar wind density and speed
    • Magnetospheric electrons which are accelerated downward by field-aligned electric fields are responsible for the bright aurora features. The un-accelerated electrons and ions are responsible for the dim glow of the diffuse aurora. [Video] [Pic from ISS]
  • The rotation of the Sun skews them (at Earth) by about 45 degrees, so that field lines passing Earth may actually start near the western edge (“limb”) of the visible Sun
  • Oxygen Emissions : Green/Brownish-Red
  • Nitrogen emissions : Blue or red. Blue if the atom regains an electron after it has been ionized. Red if returning to ground state from an excited state.
  • It can take three quarters of a second to emit green light and up to two minutes to emit red. Collisions with other atoms or molecules will absorb the excitation energy and prevent emission. Because the very top of the atmosphere has a higher percentage of oxygen and is sparsely distributed such collisions are rare enough to allow time for oxygen to emit red.
  • Green is the most common of all auroras. Behind it is pink, a mixture of light green and red, followed by pure red, yellow (a mixture of red and green), and lastly pure blue.
  • Viewing Aurora

Geomagnetic Storms on Earth

  • A temporary disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere
  • Caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field which interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field.
  • The increase in the solar wind pressure initially compresses the magnetosphere and the solar wind magnetic field will interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and transfer an increased amount of energy into the magnetosphere.
  • Both interactions cause an increase in movement of plasma through the magnetosphere (driven by increased electric fields inside the magnetosphere) and an increase in electric current in the magnetosphere and ionosphere.
  • Heats Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing it to expand. The heated air rises, and the density at the orbit of satellites increases significantly. This results in increased drag on satellites in space, causing them to slow and change orbit slightly.
  • When magnetic fields move about in the vicinity of a conductor such as a wire, a geomagnetically induced current is produced in the conductor.

Geomagnetic Storm of 1989

  • The result of a coronal mass ejection on March 9, 1989.
  • The aurora could be seen as far south as Texas
  • As this occurred during the Cold War, many worried that a nuclear first-strike might be in progress
  • Some satellites in polar orbits lost control for several hours.
  • Some weather satellite communications were interrupted causing weather images to be lost.
  • A NASA communication satellite recorded over 250 anomalies caused by the increased particles flowing into its sensitive electronics.
  • Space Shuttle Discovery : A sensor on one of the tanks supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell was showing unusually high pressure readings on March 13. The problem went away after the solar storm subsided. [Launch Video]

Geomagnetic Storm of 1989 – March 13, 1989 Power Outtage

  • In Québec, as well as across parts of the northeastern U.S., the electrical supply was cut off to over 6 million people for 9 hours due to a huge geomagnetic storm.
  • The variations in the earth’s magnetic field also tripped circuit breakers on Hydro-Québec’s power grid.
  • The utility’s very long transmission lines and the fact that most of Quebec sits on a large rock shield prevented current flowing through the earth, finding a less resistant path along the power lines.
  • The James Bay network went offline in less than 90 seconds
  • The company implemented various mitigation strategies, including raising the trip level, installing series compensation on ultra high voltage lines and upgrading various monitoring and operational procedures. Other utilities in North America, the UK, Northern Europe and elsewhere implemented programs to reduce the risks associated with geomagnetically induced currents

Geomagnetic Storm of 1859

  • Produced ground currents as much as ten times stronger than the 1989 Quebec storm
  • September 1, English astronomer Richard C. Carrington was sketching a curious group of sunspots—curious on account of the dark areas’ enormous size
  • Auroras could be seen overhead from Maine to the tip of Florida
  • Cubans saw the auroras directly overhead; ships’ logs near the equator described crimson lights reaching halfway to the zenith
  • People could read the newspaper by their crimson and green light. Gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up and ate breakfast at 1 a.m., thinking the sun had risen on a cloudy day. Telegraph systems became unusable across Europe and North America.

Sunspots

  • Cooler than the other parts of the sun [ ~2000-2500* C / ~3600-4500*F ]
  • Occur in banded areas, the latitude changes dependent upon the solar cycle
  • Caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection by an effect comparable to the eddy current brake, forming areas of reduced surface temperature. Like magnets, they also have two poles.
  • Although they are at temperatures of roughly 3000–4500 K (2727–4227 °C/ 4940-7640 *F), the contrast with the surrounding material at about 5,780 K (5506*C/9944*F) leaves them clearly visible as dark spots, as the intensity is a function of temperature to the fourth power.
  • If the sunspot were isolated from the surrounding photosphere it would be brighter than an electric arc.
  • Possible Similar Phenomenon have been observed (Starspots) on other stars as cooler and warmer spots on stars [ HD12545 ]

Solar Tsunami

Satellites / Instruments

  • There are a number missions involved with studying the Sun

STEREO / Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory

  • Spoke about this in J@N “Spotlight on NASA | J@N [ 2.28.11 ]”
  • Two Year Mission to employ two nearly identical space-based observatories – one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind – to provide the first-ever stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and the nature of its coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.
  • Launched on Oct. 25, 2006; the two systems started to give three-dimensional images of our Sun in April 2007.
  • Has four instrument packages are mounted on each of the two STEREO spacecraft: details below
  • Mass: 1,364 pounds (620 kilograms)
  • Dimensions:  3.75ft x 4.00ft x
    • 3.75 feet (1.14 meters)
    • 4.00 feet (1.22 meters) wide (launch configuration)
    • 21.24 feet (6.47 meters) wide (solar arrays deployed)
    • 6.67 feet (2.03 meters) deep
  • Power consumption: 475 watts
  • Data downlink: 720 kilobits per second
  • Memory: 1 gigabyte

STEREO | Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI)

  • Comprised of four instruments:
  • These instruments study the 3-D evolution of CME’s from birth at the Sun’s surface through the corona and interplanetary medium to its eventual impact at Earth.
    • Takes remote images of the CME as it erupts from the Sun and travels into space
    • By studying the evolution of CME’s, we can better predict when they will occur and which ones will likely impact the Earth, and how they will affect the Earths magnetosphere. Earlier detection and warning could give us time to shut down power grids (ect.) or to take precautions that might protect what technology we can.  It also gives us time for any astronauts in orbit to get to the safest place they can.

STEREO | STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES)

  • SWAVES is an interplanetary radio burst tracker that traces the generation and evolution of traveling radio disturbances from the Sun to the orbit of Earth.
    • Detects the traveling shock ahead of the CME through radio bursts
    • Remember : Radio waves are part of the electromagnetic radiation, and therefore travel at the speed of light
    • This instrument allows us to detect the coronal and interplanetary (IP) shock of the most powerful CMEs, providing a radial profile through spectral imaging, determining the radial velocity
    • Also allows us to detect and measure the density and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Learning how they interact with the Suns magnetic field lines and the Inter-planatery Magnetics will allow us to better understand and predict how they travel through the inter-planetary medium.

STEREO | In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT)

  • Samples the 3-D distribution and provide plasma characteristics of solar energetic particles and the local vector magnetic field.
    • measures its electrons, embedded magnetic fields, and more energetic particles of the solar wind
    • We know Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) are dangerous so modeling where they originate will give us a better ability to predict them.

STEREO | PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC)

  • Provides plasma characteristics of protons, alpha particles and heavy ions. This experiment will provide key diagnostic measurements of the form of mass and charge state composition of heavy ions and characterize the CME plasma from ambient coronal plasma.
    • measures the density, speed, flow, and material of the solar wind
    • samples the solar wind and suprathermal particles, providing measurements of kinetic properties and composition

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