1. Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections Brian Lynch 10/29/2003

2. Table of Contents What is a CME? What is a Solar Flare? What is their relationship? Effects of CMEs September 1, 1859 More Recent CME effects Very Recent CME & Solar Flare effects October 29, 2003

3. What is a CME? Large volume of superheated gas Magnetically charged 2000 km/s 10^16 grams (10 billion tons) of plasma

4. What is the Relationship? Once thought: solar flares cause CME Separate occurrence Tangled magnetic fields within Sun

5. What is a Solar Flare? Release of buildup of Magnetic energy Three Stages: Precursor: triggers release of magnetic energy Impulsive: protons and electrons accelerated to energies up to and beyond 1 MeV Decay: return to lower energy Extend into the corona with noticeable change in brightness Potentially effect communications on Earth

6. What are the effects of a CME? Worldwide disruption of Earth’s magnetic field Satellite interference Electrical and Communication equipment interference Intense “Northern Lights”, aurora borealis

7. September 1, 1859 Largest known CME 18 hours ( 3-4 standard) Magnetic field reverse of Earth Telegraph failure in US and Europe Aurora Borealis visible as far south as Rome, Havana and Hawaii

8. More Recent CME effects 1989 – Quebec power grid down for 9 hours, estimated 100’s of millions lost in revenue and damage (X15) 1994 – NASA notes CME leave sun, 5 days later CME takes out communication satellite Telstar 1 as well as others. 1998 – CME blamed for failure of Galaxy 4 satellite which caused the loss of 80% of US pager use (45 million customers)

9. Very Recent CMEs Tuesday October 28, 2003 CME seen around 6:00 am Solar flare rated X17.2 occurs right after Third highest measured CME traveling at 2000 km/s Solar flare caused radio storm in ionosphere early Tuesday morning to afternoon. CME set to arrive midday Wednesday Oct. 29, 2003

10. October 29, 2003 Potential effects depend on orientation Appearance of Northern Lights also depend on this orientation Advanced Composition Explorer

11. Credits http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/23oct_superstor m.htm http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9701/21/cosmic.chaos/ http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/articles/eisbaker.html http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/cme.htm http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/28/solar.flare/i ndex.html http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Fl are.htmlhttp://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/23oct_superstor m.htm http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9701/21/cosmic.chaos/ http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/articles/eisbaker.html http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/cme.htm http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/28/solar.flare/i ndex.html http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Fl are.html