A short while ago tonight I scanned an article that said "Dramatic solar flare [Tuesday, June 7] could disrupt Earth communications [Wednesday, June 8]."
Recently I have been trying to research as much as I can about solar flares, because of a chilling coincidence.
In one of my hubs, I wrote about a man who believed that solar flares caused or affected earthquakes. In fact, he predicted the two strong earthquakes of the 1960s (both 9.0 or +). But the USGS disagrees with that idea and clearly discounts the theory.
Then, on March 10, I read that there had been a strong solar flare the day before, and I wondered....
On March 11, the earthquake took place off Honshu.
Is it truly just a coincidence, or is there some connection there that has not been investigated thoroughly enough? I know that there are different types of solar flares, different magnitudes, different locations on the sun's surface. There are different ways to measure (here on earth) some of the ones that took place in the past.
I would welcome any pointers about great sites any of you have discovered, as well as any information you would like to share!
This is probably one of the best sites on the internet for the sun. Enjoy.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
You are right about this site, Beelzedad! It's fantastic. I've just been over there browsing. From there I found a link to an article about the Carrington Event (1859) that I mentioned obliquely. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/newsroom … rstorm.pdf
I also found a very brief (1-2seconds) movie of some unusual activity - a "somersault" - on the sun last week, May 30. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickofth … rsault.mpg
It's cool to watch! I'm not sure I know how to post it here, but I may try....
The references to the next Solar Max mentioned that one scientist (Dikpati) thinks/thought (article was from 2006) it will be in 2012; another, Hathaway, predicted 2010 or 2011. http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/s … rmwarning/
Prediction is not an exact science. !
Thanks for telling me about that site.
Solar flares affect our communications all the time, just some times more than others.
I believe I was reading where the solar activity was due to subside somewhat in the coming months. My understanding there is a cycle to the intensity to solar flares.
I'm sure if you search MSN, they will have archived links.
I know about the ~eleven-year cycle to solar activity. I'll double-check myself on this, but I believe the cycle we are in is due to continue through 2012 or maybe 2013. Some astronomers have predicted the possibility of a major solar storm in 2012, which could affect communications and other electronics severely.
A similar dire storm happened back during the telegraph era, and it caused all kinds of havoc. But they were not dependent on the kind of communications devices that we rely on, of course. Some people are saying the worry is similar to the Y2K fears, and that may be so. I'm not so sure that it's a bad thing to "plan for the worst and hope for the best" - maybe not in every endeavor, but certainly in some instances.
I'll try to find the links about the solar flares predicted for 2012 and post them.
As well, if you're interested in viewing the sun yourself, I would recommend a PST (Personal Solar Telescope) made by Coronado - I've had one of these since they first came out and they are great.
http://www.escience.ca/telescopes/RENDE … 11931.html
And, if you like to view with both eyes rather than just one, you can purchase a bino-viewer from a variety of vendors. One of the best quality is made by Denkmeier.
You can also purchase either a CCD camera made to fit into a telescope or an adapter that will hold your own camera. You can download Registax software to process the image.
Of course, when you get into taking your own pictures, it's important to remember that you need a telescope mount that has a tracking system.
I didn't even know that such a thing as a Solar Telescope existed! (I'm behind the times in viewing the sky.) I have a generic telescope from years ago that I have in storage, but it is definitely not a solar telescope. Wow, I'll have to look into that.
To be honest, though, at this point I'm more interested in looking at pictures taken by others and reading all the information I can find (and understand!), rather than viewing the sun myself. But I appreciate the information here very much. I'll file it for the future when I may decide to go that route.
What's exciting about viewing the sun yourself is that you can watch changes to prominences and flares in real time. True, the changes take a lot of time considering the distances those prominences and flares travel through space, but they certainly are noticeable.
That's so cool that you yourself are able to watch them! I love seeing the pictures and videos that are available.
Most of my current "obsession" has to do with trying to see what possible links there could be between solar activity and earthquakes. As I mentioned, I'm aware that the scientists say there is none. But we all know that scientists keep adding to the knowledge base and updating information all the time, so I'm willing to keep watching and wondering.
by backporchstories 12 years ago
Sun solar flares increasing in intensity, is this part of 2012 vision of the Mayans?With the 2012 vision of this time ending and the influence of the cosmos recorded to create this vision, do you think the sun's solar flare activity is connected to this possible outcome?
by dariashakti 13 years ago
Do you think there is a connection between sunspots/solar flares and the stock market as science is discovering? The sun has been very active recently, so has the stock market....how can we understand this connection better?
by Julie Grimes 12 years ago
What impact does solar flares have on human activities?
by Denise Handlon 12 years ago
Are you interested in watching for solar flares from your country?As Solar Storm reporting continues, I'm wondering if this phenomenon will be something that the ordinary person will be able to view without a powerful telescope? Do you find this intriguing?
by Paula 12 years ago
Are Solar Flares Dangerous to Life on Earth?Are solar flares, or coronal mass ejections dangerous to life on earth? Can you think of any ways that solar radiation could cause us long term problems if they keep on happening?
by kknde 8 years ago
Do you think earthquakes can be predicted?
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |