You've been warned this would happen...

and this is just a tiny one: Solar storm headed toward Earth may disrupt power.

Not to say I told you so, oh heck, yes I will.  You will find two previous posts about this serious hazard here and here.

Probability of a solar megastorm...

similar to the Carrington Event of 1859 is estimated at 12% over the coming decade.  That's not trivial, and the consequences would be catastrophic to the electrical infrastructure and the functioning of electronic gadgets that we increasingly rely upon in our daily lives.  There would be, however, spectacular auroras.

Here's a related previous post about this very serious and potentially crippling threat.

Buckle up fellow earthlings...

Earth in for bumpy ride as solar storms hit.

Battle of fire and ice...

and the icy comet Lovejoy wins! Here's the video of the rapidly moving comet being slingshot through the Sun's corona:



Quite extraordinary, and you may want to replay it multiple times.  Here are more details of this amazing encounter.

What if the biggest solar storm...

on record happened today?  The so-called Carrington Event in 1859, if repeated in more modern times, would cripple communication networks and power grids.

Think about it.  No power. No Internet. No cell phones.  No GPS. No television.  Life would be dreadful.

Stunning view of the Sun...

through a hydrogen-alpha filter: The Making of a Mind-Blowing DIY Sun Photo (click to enlarge).

Image credit:  Alan Friedman.

Sunspots could soon disappear...

for decades. Key bit:

"Sunspot formation is triggered by a magnetic field, which scientists say is steadily declining. They predict that by 2016 there may be no remaining sunspots, and the sun may stay spotless for several decades. The last time the sunspots disappeared altogether was in the 17th and 18th century, and coincided with a lengthy cool period on the planet known as the Little Ice Age."

A puzzling collapse...

of Earth's upper atmosphere.

We're all gonna die...

one way or another: 2013 Solar Storm Could Create Widespread Panic.

This of course presupposes that we survive the apocalypse of 21 December 2012.

Space weather warning...

As the Sun Awakens, NASA Keeps a Wary Eye on Space Weather

It's just a phase...

Solar Scientists Agree That the Sun's Recent Behavior Is Odd, but the Explanation Remains Elusive

The best is yet to come...

First Light for the Solar Dynamics Observatory

Put 21 August 2017 on your calendar...

so you won't miss the next total solar eclipse in North America (click to enlarge). Learn more about these rare events.

It's on mine, and I hope to be there.

Image credit: Gizmodo.

Solar Dynamics Observatory...

(SDO) is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, 10 February, from Kennedy Space Center at ~10:30 am EST. Information about its mission can be found on the official NASA web page, while a general description of the science can be found here.

UPDATE: Launch stalled by weather. The next attempt will be Thursday, 11 February, at 10:23 am EST.

Extraordinary coronal detail...

captured in stunning images acquired during a total solar eclipse earlier this month (click to enlarge). Read more about the Sun's corona.

Awesome.

Image credit: Miloslav Druckmüller.

Deep solar minimum continues...

according to Spaceweather.com:

"The sun is in the pits of a very deep solar minimum. Many researchers thought the sunspot cycle had hit bottom in 2008 when the sun was blank 73% of the time. Not so. 2009 is on the verge of going even lower. So far this year, the sun has been blank 75% of the time, and only a serious outbreak of sunspots over the next few weeks will prevent 2009 from becoming the quietest year in a century."

Solar tsunami has been imaged...

by NASA's STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft, and consists of a wave of hot plasma and magnetism that races across the Sun's surface, generated by a coronal mass ejection. The scale is humongous:

"The technical name is "fast-mode magnetohydrodynamical wave"—or "MHD wave" for short. The one STEREO saw reared up about 100,000 km high, and raced outward at 250 km/s (560,000 mph)."

Fortunately the phenomenon is no hazard for Earth.

Sun could be headed...

into a period of extended calm.

Perhaps that's why I feel so relaxed.

Big solar minimum...

seems to be occurring. Hey wait, isn't that an oxymoron? The current stats from Spaceweather.com:

Spotless Days
2009 total: 195 days (79%)
Since 2004: 706 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days

Related article: Are Sunspots Disappearing?

Enormous solar storm...

struck Earth 150 years ago today, shorting out telegraph wires and resulting in magnificent auroras observed as far south as Panama. Such an event, if it occurred today, could disrupt the electrical grid, paralyze communications and transportation systems.

UPDATE: Telegraphs Ran on Electric Air in Crazy 1859 Magnetic Storm