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Sun-Earth Day 2008: Space Weather Around the World

Sun-Earth Day 2008: Space Weather Around the World

SPACE WEATHER FACTS

  1. Solar flares can sometimes heat the solar surface to temperatures of 80 million F - far hotter that the sun's core!
  2. The fastest coronal mass ejection was recorded on August 4, 1972 and traveled from the sun to earth in 14.6 hours - a speed of nearly 10 million kilometers per hour!
  3. On April 8, 1947, the largest sunspot in modern history reached its maximum size of over 330 times Earth's area.
  4. The most powerful solar flare in the last 500 years occurred on September 2, 1859 and was sighted by two astronomers who happened to be looking at the sun at exactly the right time!
  5. Between May 10-12, 1999, the solar wind nearly vanished, causing Earth's magnetosphere to expand in volume by over 100 times!
  6. A typical CME can be millions of kilometers in size, but have the mass of only a small mountain!
  7. Some sunspots are cool enough that water vapor can form at a temperature of 1,550 C.
  8. The most powerful aurora can generate over 1 trillion watts of power.
  9. The March 13, 1989 Quebec blackout, the result of a major geomagnetic storm, caused a $6 billion loss to the Canadian economy.
  10. During intense solar flares, astronauts see bright flashing streaks of light as a result of high-energy particles zipping through their eyeballs.
  11. The largest, single, challenge for astronauts traveling to Mars will be to overcome exposure to solar storms and radiation.
  12. Space Weather Forecasting costs only $5 million a year, but supports over $500 billion in annual revenue from the satellite and electrical power industries.
  13. Over $2 billion in satellite technology was damaged or destroyed during the last sunspot cycle.
  14. A major solar 'superstorm' such as the one in 1859 could cost $30 billion a day to the US electrical power grid, and up to $70 billion to the satellite industry.
  15. The August 4, 1972 solar flare was so powerful that, by some estimates, a spacesuited astronaut would have received a lethal does of radiation.
  16. Earth's climate was seriously chilled during the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) when no 11-year sunspot cycles were detected.
  17. During a single second, the sun converts 4 million tons of matter into pure energy.
  18. The core of the sun is nearly as dense as lead, and has a temperature of 15 million C.
  19. During a severe solar storm, Earth loses about 100 tons of its atmosphere into space.
  20. Toy 'rare-earth' magnets can be 5 times stronger that a sunspot magnetic field.

UPCOMING EVENTS

GET INVOLVED

WHEN IS SUN-EARTH DAY?

This year's main event will be on March 20, 2008.
 
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