Keith’s 29 Oct note: The @NASA_SDO twitter account just noted “Due to the impact of Hurricane #Sandy @NASA_Goddard the @NASA_SDO website is down. Sorry for the inconvenience We will have it up again ASAP”. This is baffling. The most weather we have here in the DC/Baltimore area right now is steady rain. No hurricane effects are being felt yet. But none the less a GSFC website is offline? I wonder […]

It’s Science and Art, the Solar Data Van Gogh Effect (With video), SpaceRef “According to NASA it’s pure science and not art. But when Nicholeen Viall, a solar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center created a new data visualization technique, the resulting solar images were reminiscent of a Van Gogh painting.”

Solar storm incoming: Federal agencies provide inconsistent, confusing information, Washington Post “If NOAA’s right, and the ensuing geomagnetic storm is minor, it’s no big deal. It means the high latitudes could be treated to some brilliant auroras over the weekend with few, if any, negative effects on earth-orbiting satellites or the power grid. On the other hand, if NASA’s right, and the geomagnetic storm is strong to severe, Earth-orbiting satellites […]

Videos: Large Solar Flare and CME As Seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory “This clip of the large X2 flare (Feb. 15, 2011) seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light has been enlarged and superimposed on SOHO’s C2 coronagraph for the same period. This was the largest flare in over four years. The coronagraph shows the faint edge of a “halo” coronal mass ejection (CME) as it […]

NASA’s SDO Observes First Lunar Transit “This was a first for SDO and it was visually engaging too. On October 7, 2010, SDO observed its first lunar transit when the new Moon passed directly between the spacecraft (in its geosynchronous orbit) and the Sun. With SDO watching the Sun in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the dark Moon created a partial eclipse of the Sun.”

Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity 1 August 2010 “Region 1092 (N13E21) produced a long-duration C3/Sf flare at 01/0826Z. The flare was associated with a Type IV radio sweep, an 890 sfu Tenflare, and an Earth-directed full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME). A disappearing filament (DSF) occurred during 01/0750 – 0811Z, centered near N37W32 and time coincident with the C3 flare. The DSF was associated with an Earth-directed partial-halo […]