SOLAR BLAST.......DUCK!

SOLAR BLAST: No sunspots? No problem.

On April 26th the blank sun unleashed a solar flare without the usual aid of a sunspot. At 1408 UT, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a surge of X-rays registering B3.8 on the Richter scale of solar flares.(See below)

http://spaceweather.com/glossary/flareclasses.html?PHPSESSID=it5ike8nmuup560qincjuctfn3

Shortly thereafter, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a coronal mass ejection (CME) billowing away from the sun:

http://spaceweather.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA

Explanation: What's happening in the NGC 3582 nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming. The complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57. Visible in this image are dense knots of dark interstellar dust, bright stars that have formed in the past few million years, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars. A recent detailed study of NGC 3582 uncovered at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation, and the clear presence of the complex carbon molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are thought to be created in the cooling gas of star forming regions, and their development in the Sun's formation nebula five billion years ago may have been an important step in the development of life on Earth. This picture was taken last year with the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), in Chile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Hubble Captures Crashing Galaxies  AOL - April 27, 2008  
Hubble Photographs Dozens of Colliding Galaxies  Live Science - April 24, 2008 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Richter scale of solar flares.

The Classification of X-ray Solar Flares
or "Solar Flare Alphabet Soup"

A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays. [more information]

Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

This figure shows a series of solar flares detected by NOAA satellites in July 2000:

Each category for x-ray flares has nine subdivisions ranging from, e.g., C1 to C9, M1 to M9, and X1 to X9. In this figure, the three indicated flares registered (from left to right) X2, M5, and X6. The X6 flare triggered a radiation storm around Earth nicknamed the Bastille Day event.

Peak (W/m2)between 1 and 8 Angstroms

 http://spaceweather.com/glossary/flareclasses.html?PHPSESSID=it5ike8nmuup560qincjuctfn3