What makes this one any different from the ones in the past?

-- David Whitelaw (Dande53484@aol.com), February 19, 2000

Answers

It's big, and it's headed right for us. Otherwise, no more problem expected than the one that took down the power grid in Quebec some years back. And maybe a satellite or two down...

Me, I'm going to the beach...after a gourmet breakfast and an inspiring church service...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), February 19, 2000.

David:

It could be different, but I have no information that suggests that it is. It is different, in that, we know about it. For people, who don't, it is the same. Of course, we do depend on more sensitive devices than we did in 1989.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), February 19, 2000.

How long was the power grid down in Canada in 1989?

-- rosearbor (Rosearbor@hotmail.com), February 19, 2000.

the grid was down for two weeks I think.

-- (jules@fridgid.net), February 19, 2000.

People need to be objective, cautious and yet open minded. There is a valid reason to be concerned and yet if too many of these warnings are given, few will take it seriously. Warnings have been given that we should see something occur before April and yet statements have been made that "the big one" could hit as late as 2001.

-- Richard Markland (newsman@bright.net), February 19, 2000.

This may be different in two ways: 1)The solar cycle is at it's 12 year max, so the solar storms can be more severe generally. 2)We are more dependent on satellites than we were 12 years ago. There are many more in orbit that may be damaged.

-- Robert Manny (rmanny@thegrid.net), February 19, 2000.

Monk... mebbe not a bad call... lol...

FAIR USE yadda yadda...

http://spaceweather.com "20 Feb 2000 Active regions 8869 and 8872 surprised forecasters by producing M-class solar flares on February 17. One of the flares was associated with a full halo coronal mass ejection that appears to be headed directly for Earth.

When the leading edge of this disturbance reaches our planet on February 20, it could trigger aurorae and other geomagnetic activity." (Check out the animation... it's awesome!)

Auroral activity is likely at high lats. That's the good part... haven't seen an aurora since I was a kid in Iowa. If you are lucky enough to be at a sufficiently high latitude and want to take pics, try 100 ASA for about a 20 min exposure... your mileage may vary.

http://www.ips.oz.au/background/richard/effects01.html Here's the other possibilities, from IPS Radio & Space Services in Australia. I found these among the most interesting...

"Pipelines: Electric currents induced in the earth during magnetic storms can result in corrosion in buried conductors such as pipelines, despite protection by special coatings and by electrical voltages applied along the pipeline." (More water and other pipeline breaks?)

"Powerlines: Electric currents induced in powerlines during magnetic storms can damage power relays and even cause the power grid to fail. These effects are most likely at high latitudes." Also, problems possible with cell phones, satellites (GPS), and other sensitive electronic devices.

"A 1989 solar storm caused a province-wide blackout in Quebec, and coils in a transformer station in Salem, N.J., melted and caught fire, causing a regional outage" - ABC news, http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/solarstorms990531.htm

Other links posted here on this topic have been interesting as well. Though 'we've seen the light' (no pun intended!)from the CME, the winds should be here sometime tomorrow, having geomagnetic effects that are as yet still uncertain.

Would someone be so kind as to make proper links?

-- Evaign (stillgotpreps@ourhouse.com), February 19, 2000.

Sorry, that should have been 20 second exposure, not 20 minutes.

Damn.

-- Evaign... (proofreaderneeded@here.com), February 19, 2000.

Solar activity is supposed to peak about July, 2000. We could have a number of magnetic storms like this one throughout the year.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 19, 2000.

What's different is we have SOHO which pretty much kicks ass.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), February 19, 2000.

What does SOHO mean?

-- David Whitelaw (Dande53484@aol.com), February 19, 2000.

http://spaceweather.com

http://w ww.ips.oz.au/background/richard/effects01.html

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 19, 2000.

The Solar Maximums have, I believe, 11 year cycles. the coronal output can affect our communications satellites, if they reach them; they can be emanating away from earth, but this one seems to be on its way to earth, I believe I read.

Back when I first learned about Y2k, they were mentioned as being a complicating factor, coming when they do, peaking from late '99 to mid 2000. They are, of course, not Y2k related, but might have made it worse.

Look up 'Solar Maximum' on the 'net; it gives a lot of information.

-- Connie (hive@gte.net), February 19, 2000.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. From Spaceweather.com: Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO, a mission of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. SOHO is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center for the NASA HQ office of Space Science.

-- Jill D. (jdance@mindspring.com), February 19, 2000.

I have taken numerous photos of both auroras and comets, it is quite easy. However, I would recommend taking several photos in increments. That is, 20 seconds, 30, 40, 50, etc. Film is cheap but a successful photo is priceless. Would also recommend ASA 400.

-- JB (noway@jose.com), February 20, 2000.

Link to ABC News solar flare story which mentions the Quebec power outage of 1989"

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), February 20, 2000.