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Large Solar Flare

MacSA

MacSA

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 4, 2003
1,803
5
UK
Check out this time lapse movie of the Sun taken from the SOHO Spacecraft. (3.3MB)

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/304hicad_hi_705_4.mov

Just as Active Region 792 was rotating into view on the left edge of the Sun, it fired off two substantial coronal mass ejections (CMEs) over a 30-hour period (July 28-30, 2005). A spectral line of singly-ionized helium at 304 Ångstroms shows the state of the solar plasma at roughly 60,000 C. Scientists have been awaiting this active region since it seems to have been the cause of a number of solar storms on the far side of the Sun. As it rotates further towards the center and right side of the Sun, it may well send a solar storm heading towards Earth. The resulting movie, captured at a high cadence of frames (which is uncommon for this wavelength) makes this one rank among the top five sequences taken in this wavelength.

304hicad.jpg
 
One of these days I am gonna get a telescope!

I know emw got a good one recently, and a solar filter.

I think watching the sun is the best use of a telescope. A star, right here to watch. Lots of movement, change, and with eclipses, excitement. i used to have a soho shot as my desktop.
 
stubeeef said:
...I think watching the sun is the best use of a telescope....
Click to expand...

Of course you need to take a little care doing that or you're going to be left blind in one eye!
 
Wow mighty interesting. I would like to see how big the earth is in comparison to that flare. That flare looks huge. Cool i would also like to get a telescope to check out the sun. :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
Amazing to see something with so much energy and power, and know that its really not all that far away from our planet......
 
mpw said:
Of course you need to take a little care doing that or you're going to be left blind in one eye!
Click to expand...


For those budding scientists here, use a solar filter! don't look at the sun with binoculars that are not protected with a solar filter (not a UV filter, a solar filter). this is analagous to making sure your gun is not loaded before cleaning it!
 
 
 
Truly stunning imagery there. I've viewed the Sun through a telescope with a solar filter, however I only see an orange disk with black spots on it (sun spots). Is it even possible to see the sun like in the movie with consumer equipment (like non-satellites that don't cost billions)?
 
An amazing picture. Very impressive. Those solar storms are quite awesome. Wonder if there was any interference with telecommunications from that?
 
wow, i wish i had known sooner it might have caused enough disturbance to reveal a good show of the "northern lights" - which i'd love to see again. i saw once but it was overcast, still fascinating. i have to look up some specifics on timing, i thought there was only a couple days after the storms [shrugs]
how sad, i want solar storms so i can see the aurora borealis :D
 
mpw said:
Is it just me or does that sequence have an unnerving resemblance to an evil looking Halloween pumpkin getting shot in the head?.......just me then :eek:
Click to expand...

LOL - so true, very funny, I'll never look at the sun the same way again, well actually, I'll never look at the sun at all
:eek:
 
Sorry I'm so late to this thread, but I just saw it. Yes, I have a solar filter for my telescope, but it doesn't really let me see solar flares, from what I can tell. I can see sun spots, but I think I need a more advanced filter to catch the flares.

Cool stuff, though. The suns been quite active the past couple of years.
 
tech4all said:
Truly stunning imagery there. I've viewed the Sun through a telescope with a solar filter, however I only see an orange disk with black spots on it (sun spots). Is it even possible to see the sun like in the movie with consumer equipment (like non-satellites that don't cost billions)?
Click to expand...
I have spoken to some people and it's possible to see the sun through a normal telescope like in the pictures/movie. But the equipment you need to do so is very expensive. From what they told me it's about US$1500-US$3000.
Hey If your are loaded with $$$ then it's probably one of the more spectacular sights ever. Just think what you'll see in case of a solar-eclipse.
 
IEatApples said:
I have spoken to some people and it's possible to see the sun through a normal telescope like in the pictures/movie. But the equipment you need to do so is very expensive. From what they told me it's about US$1500-US$3000.
Hey If your are loaded with $$$ then it's probably one of the more spectacular sights ever. Just think what you'll see in case of a solar-eclipse.
Click to expand...
The filter I have was only $100, but it doesn't let me see the sun like what's in the picture above. However, I can observe it, and would see the solar eclipse. Here's what I see when I look through the filter at the sun:

Sun.jpg
 
Yes it's true that you can see a solar eclipse with a normal solar filter, but imagine the bursts you'll see around the moon with better equipment.
What you show in your picture is about the same as I can see with my telescope. Looking forward to viewing Jupiter though with it's rotation around itself in just 3 hours. :cool:
 
Hey did you see?
I just got updated from newbie to MEMBER! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I can feel the love. :p

And this is my last post before I move today/now.
Moving to Lillehammer (Norway) for college. :)
Best going away gift ever.lol
 
vouder17 said:
Wow mighty interesting. I would like to see how big the earth is in comparison to that flare. That flare looks huge. Cool i would also like to get a telescope to check out the sun. :cool: :cool: :cool:
Click to expand...

Here you go, not sure the flare is the same size as the one in the video, but here is a to scale version of a flare in comparasion to earth.........wow
 

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