THE SUN TODAY: 24 January 2012 - HUGE GEOMAGNETIC STORM?

[esplen2t]

here in Canada, it should be like -20 to -40 and its like -5 to +3 some days... so crazzy... we had a + 9 in janauary, the middle of our winter

[kingsrecords]

I thoroughly enjoy your videos! A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. We need to do some investigating instead of following this almost tabloid like hype being created by the msm. Kudos! ;)

[BEMUSED3256]

In Aust we getting rain,flash flooding,some towns 400mls and more on way,heatwaves 42c+,sudden storms 170kmph recorded,cyclones or big lows both west and east coasts,thats the weather at the moment and just for January alone,whats next?.

[drkstrong]

@BEMUSED3256 Wow! Stay safe. Here in Washington DC it is like spring already. I have had daffodils flowering my garden since before Xmas (usually it feb/march). I have played golf at least once every week this winter which has never happened before. Tornadoes are ripping through the South - again normally a spring phenomenon. Crazy stuff.

[Taakuyaa]

@drkstrong yeah I actually live in Alabama, the strongest tornado that came through the state this week (I think) passed literally with 3 miles of my home. Strange for january to say the least, but then again we havent had any remarkably cold winters for as long as I can remember, would certainly be nice to get some real snow for a change though.

[drkstrong]

@Taakuyaa That's too close for comfort. I hope you have a nice secure and deep basement.

[julayjb]

It's 2012. If I fart too high, people scream that it's the end of the world!

[drkstrong]

@julayjb :)

[a27936]

so at some point we are going to hell!!!

[cbemerine]

Gotta love the MSM fear porn, not. On a more serious note, since we know that Fukushima will be releasing radiation for the next 10 years, they announced a slight increase from 60 million Bq / h to 70 million Bq / h after they entered reactor #2, watch?v=RSRDbEV4Evw, to put a scope in the containment, what if any effect might we notice between radiation in the jet stream and CMEs, solar flares, proton flares, etc? What if anything might we observe? Different color to Auroras perhaps? Curious.

[drkstrong]

@cbemerine No effect on aurora. The colour of aurora is determined by the energy of the incoming electrons and the atmospheric composition at the height they are absorbed. Besides Japan is way too far south to be affecting the auroral zone even if there was enough radiation to make a difference at those altitudes which there isnt. We found that out with the Russian nuclear disaster.

[cbemerine]

@drkstrong Good to know, though I am not sure that where the incident is (Japan being south) matters in this case as the jet stream is picking up what goes up the stack daily and spreading over entire Northern Hemisphere. The other day when workers went in/out of reactor #2, the release went from 60 mill Bq/h to over 70 mil Bq/h, they blamed the opening of the door on that "slight' increase. Yes I am being sarcastic as an increase of 10 Million Bq / hour is not slight, IMO. Thanks.

[drkstrong]

@cbemerine The jet stream does not go hugh enough to affect the magnetosphere. It is in the neutral atmosphere. Aurora occur high in the ionized or semi ionized part of the atmosphere.

[strangeventswatcher]

@cbemerine may or may not be connected, but I live in an area of the UK, that rarely sees power outages, in fact in 15 years I think power has been out once, and that was when they turned it off on purpose to change a transformer out. last night around 22:30ish the whole area went down for about 10 minutes very unusual, could be coincidental but true none-the-less

[cbemerine]

@strangeventswatcher That is interesting, I wonder what the root cause was as this event was not suppose to cause that...interesting.

[jacklee1961]

I think the one lesson we can take away from this event is how utterly dependent we are on the data coming from ACE. All of the forecast models that provide us with the ability to protect satellites, aircraft and electrical ground-based assets need accurate data from this satellite. It may be time to consider launching a backup system to augment, verify and provide a fail-over should ACE data cease or be questionable in the future.

[drkstrong]

@jacklee1961 There is such a mission ready to go and it has been since 2001 but the republicans in the Senate have held up funding for it to be launched. They even turned down a free launch offered to them by both the Russians and Europeans. (check out the ssad tale of Triana / DSCOVR)

It is because Al Gore pushed to have this mission built when he was chair of the Space Council in 1998. I was involved in the proposal and building of one of th einstruments on board (EPIC).

[cbemerine]

@drkstrong That is great info @drkstrong, thank you. I am so sick and tired of both parties playing politics and doing anything and everything but helping WE THE PEOPLE.

Even Mr. Ford understood that to be successful, his workers needed a high enough salary to afford the cars they were making.

To hold up a mission because someone on the other party had a hand in it and not on its technical merits is awful.

[drkstrong]

@cbemerine No its criminal. A mission that was supposed to be done "faster, cheaper, and better" which was the NASA watchword when it was being built (the estimated cost of the whole mission was $100M - a target that would have been met if politics had not gotten in the way) has now cost the US tax payer over 4-5 times that much. It has been kept in very expensive cold storage for a deacade and is having to be refurbished to the modern more stringent (=expensive) standards. SIGH.

[BEMUSED3256]

Thanking ye for the info drkstrong.We are having severe weather in Australia at the moment,anything to do with the sun?.

[drkstrong]

@BEMUSED3256 Severe weather - not heard about that (the US is diverted by the primaries so there will be no international news until November!). What is happening?

[mymaclion]

I keep tracking you, thx for the great updates.. your very reliable.. i don't watch the news on tv anymore, because its full of negative stories...

[drkstrong]

@mymaclion Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated

[ger1ist]

My husband told me this morning about this (I missed the news as I was working at the time) and when he told me that this was the biggest storm in the past 6 years I told him that can´t be because last year we hat this huge X-Class flare. So the first thing I did this morning is look on your channel for the latest news. At least your information is reliable. Thank´s for the great job you do!

[drkstrong]

@ger1ist I try to make it so, not always successful but you can be assured I wont hype in oder to get attention - well maybe once in a while just for fun or parody! :)

[arscill1]

@drkstrong Maybe te best way to counter the hype is to make realistic assessments instead of saygin 'maybe' or 'maybe not'. It's the absence of fair critical information that's not based on knee jerk reactions in either directions that creates the un-informed panic. Remember we're in a society where control from above is maintained by fear so don't ridicule the victims, PLEASE.

[drkstrong]

@arscill1 I didnt think I did

[killerplantpot]

its called snow but its charged protons hitting the satalite causing that effect on the image.... good vid doc keep up the good work

[drkstrong]

@killerplantpot Correct! Thanks

[horustheyoung]

hmmmm so what we isee is snow ?

[drkstrong]

@horustheyoung No, snow was in quotes - it is a technical term used by space scientists to refer to the interfernece that relevativistic protons cause the focal planes of imaging instruments when they hit them. They saturate the pixel(s) with too much charge and so they appear pure white - hence "snow"

[horustheyoung]

@drkstrong is true are protons what we see from soho ?

[drkstrong]

@horustheyoung Not sure what you are asking. SOHO observes whitelight (coronagraph and MDI) and UV and EUV (the other instruments). Protons are detected when they penetrate the space craft and are absorbed into the focal place sensor causing the "snow" I showed on the video. If that is what you mean, the answer is - yes. Does that help?

[horustheyoung]

@drkstrong yes thanks ^_^

[TRIPCITY44]

That was some bad ass flare! Love the tune.

[noxep]

Great! Thank you!

And thank you for the music, much easier to concentrate on the subject :D

[tkbuddy91]

ammmazzing CME, a work of art..wow. thanks doc

[blazin20aday]

Lol I can't believe it.. There is referenced to you being at NASA followed by a spelling mistake.. And it was forecast.. Lol

[torymorton]

got chills watching this one today, so awesome !

[shaggietrip]

Great update. thanks again Doc.

[mertronable]

I saw all the hype ,but only went by the facts and forecasts made by the good Dr. You said activity was to pick up it did ,and you informed us on the proton event and it happened I also knew if anything happened we would hear it from you . I just laughed when I saw it was the biggest flare on the news I know better .awesome job as usual .

[drkstrong]

@mertronable Thanks

[jacklee1961]

it may be a bit early to assume this event is over

[drkstrong]

@jacklee1961 Absolutely!

[REMNANT47]

Ok, Doc. I'll stay put then. Just tell me when!

[chemlin]

You've seen nothing yet..hehe.. !!! This spring some major flares will pop up.. Much Love <3

[j45998]

That looks wicked. i have never personally seen the KP that high before

[drkstrong]

@j45998 I think it go to 7 or 8 last year after one of the bigger flares

[pretense101]

Thanks for that one, going to try and catch some auras tonight, in 1080p

[Ouijeannette]

Thank you for the clarity. You make a lot of good sense to me. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[drkstrong]

@Ouijeannette You are welcome

[SunsFlare]

Give 'em hell Dr Keith Strong!

[drkstrong]

@SunsFlare What was it that Ike said? " I dont give them hell, I just tell the truth and they think it is hell!" :0

[PHONEYPOLITICS]

watch?v=INYWYYaahJE

[92bluepreludeSi]

cuz of the boeing whistleblower....

[drkstrong]

@92bluepreludeSi ???

[PhatPhat818]

where did the hype come from. i heard none of this except the one that was true

[drkstrong]

@PhatPhat818 The media see several messages below. Fox was out at NASA today interviewing scientists and CNN was pushing imminent power outages.

[PhatPhat818]

lol i always comment b4 i finish watching

[PhatPhat818]

based on the protons im assuming.

[PhatPhat818]

i think they said it was the most instense solar storm in 7 years not the flare.

[drkstrong]

@PhatPhat818 CNN definitely said flare. Its not th emost intense geomagnetic storm either. It is just the most intense proton flux which has little effect unless you are an astronaut outside the magnetosphere.

[TrueHamal]

An amazing and huge Proton's Storm: I am very afraid of the power outages.

Thank you so much, drkstrong, for all your explanations. And for the music too. It's a wonderful job.

Best regards.

[drkstrong]

@TrueHamal Proton flares dont cause power outages - that is CMEs which cause the larger geomagnetic storms. This one is a blip (so far) by comparison to some we have had.

[REMNANT47]

shall we run to the hills?

[drkstrong]

@REMNANT47 Not this time

[MrScorpion18b]

Thanks for your input, always balanced. Be prepared for a big solar storm, but don't live in the fear zone!

[drkstrong]

@MrScorpion18b Precisely!

[1fishkungfu]

Thanks for the level-headed reality check, Doc!

[excavmarcelo]

the las one CME was not showed in the density animation NICT site :(

[th3dig1tal0n3]

Thanks for the update and KP maps on FB.

[drkstrong]

@th3dig1tal0n3 You are welcome

[propylaeen]

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks.! would be better if SPIEGEL magazine in Germany would watch your videos before posting apocalyptic articles...

[drkstrong]

@propylaeen Did they? That was bad - even no it is too early to say what will happen - the next 3-6 hours will show us which way the event will go.

[propylaeen]

@drkstrong there is a strange uptick in posting 'so called' science news with the potential of event character... I don't like this sort of journalism. For now I guess we will see some nice auroras, and everything else is a could not a must... but may be I'm wrong... They posted five articles in the last three days about the CME issue... to me a bit much... The red Auroras last year here in the middle of Germany only get a short 10 row posting... I like your pure style of information.

[drkstrong]

@propylaeen Thanks for the kind words

[pd2210]

Thanks again, you make it so easy to understand.

[drkstrong]

@pd2210 That is because I am simple minded (or so my wife maintians!!!)

[waterchildtera]

pretty auroral light show but nothing noticed otherwise ?

no 1859 spike or stone age !

dam and i was ready !

maybe next one :o) +

[drkstrong]

@waterchildtera Keep the stone axe head close by! :)

[papavalium]

Great video Doc, thanks for the best explanations in the world. :) I do think it's recharging though, since all the sunspot regions are next to each other...hopefully bigger.

[drkstrong]

@papavalium Only time will tell. I went out on a limb with this forecast most others are saying it is going to be HUGE - I could be very red faced tomorrow morning! :)

[papavalium]

@drkstrong Just be sick at work tomorrow...lol

[drkstrong]

@papavalium One of my employees once told me that he wasnt coming in because of eye trouble.

When I asked him the next day whether his eyes were better, he laughed and said "I just could not see coming into work on a nice day like yesterday" I had to laugh at such a good jest and could not bring myself to be mad at him (he was way ahead of schedule on his project).

[papavalium]

@drkstrong lol. I would find it hard not to show up for work when you get to see these great wonders everyday. :)

[drkstrong]

@papavalium Its easy, I'm retired!

[Rico8406]

nicee thanks Doc, is this something to worry about?

[drkstrong]

@Rico8406 Not unless it gets much more intense - keep an eye on the forecasts and now casts from the NOAA SWPC (just google that and it will take you right there)

[vyperius]

Thanks Doc for your calm in the midst of the frenzied storm of media reporting.

PS. At 1:31 you got a typo! Can I go to the head of the class? :D

[drkstrong]

@vyperius If you wish. I cant type, I cant spell, and I cant proof read very well. I do this as a challenge!

[Acensioniscoming]

they are talking about this on the news in Toronto Canada!

[drkstrong]

@Acensioniscoming Well, if it gets more intense then Canada is most likely to be affected. If nothing else the aurora will be pretty!

[Acensioniscoming]

@drkstrong hehe yup we might see northern lights in Toronto tonight! I haven't seen them in years!

[EndTimeObject]

Beautiful song!