"In the event that a strong solar flare directly hits our planet, it could cause major disruptions of Earth’s power grid and disrupt satellite and radio transmissions."
So if PFF goes down, we'll know why.
I'll be going south crossing the border around this time. Hopefully all hell doesn't break loose. Doesn't help that I'm crossing the border into the States on 9/11.
Strong solar storm zipping to Earth, but worst effects skim above planet, scientists say
"WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong solar flare is blasting its way to Earth, but the worst of its power looks like it will barely skim above the planet and not cause many problems.
It has been several years since Earth has had a solar storm of this size coming from sunspots smack in the middle of the sun, said Tom Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. The flare on the sun barely hits the "extreme" on forecasters' scale, but with its worst effects missing Earth it is only looking "potentially strong" at most when it arrives at Earth as a solar storm, he said.
New calculations from satellite data show that the worst of the energetic particles streaming from the sun likely will go north or above Earth this time, Berger said late Wednesday.
So while the power grid may see fluctuations because the storm will cause changes in Earth's magnetic field, it won't knock power systems off line, Berger said. It may cause slight disturbances in satellites and radio transmissions but nothing major.
"We're not scared of this one," Berger said.
The storm is moving medium fast, about 2.5 million miles per hour, meaning the soonest it could arrive is early Friday. But it could be later, Berger said.
Solar storms occur often, especially during peaks in the solar cycle, and don't directly harm people.
"There's been a giant magnetic explosion on the sun," Berger said. "Because it's pointed right at us, we'll at least catch some of the cloud" of highly energized and magnetized plasma that can disrupt Earth's magnetic sphere, which sometimes leads to temporary power grid problems.
On the plus side, sun flares expand the colorful northern lights so people farther south can see them. But don't expect them too far south, Berger said." http://news.msn.com/science...lanet-scientists-say
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Do these things tend to happen in groups, such as more to come soon near you?
Doesn't sound like anyone in the media knows exactly what's going to happen with this one. Latest of CNN is that it's due to hit on Saturday the 13th, which confirms what I had heard from a "Specialist" forecasting impact from now to 3-4 days, as a number factors affect it's speed.
I decided to take a nap, but I believe the initial effect was static in certain wave length communications.
A different website says the CME won't 'arrive' until tomorrow:
quote
The initial UV radiation from the explosion disturbed high-frequency radio communications for more than an hour on the side of the Earth facing the sun, reported spaceweather.com, a space weather news site maintained by Tony Phillips, who also writes NASA's Science News.
The CME itself was expected to arrive late Friday, and was expected to give rise to a strong geomagnetic storm Saturday that could disrupt power systems, GPS and high-frequency radio communication, the Space Weather Prediction Center reported shortly before 1 a.m. ET Thursday.
It added that auroras may be seen as far south as Pennsylvania, Iowa and Oregon as a result of the storm.
An earlier CME erupted from an M-class flare, the second-most-powerful kind, Tuesday at 00:30 UTC (8:45 p.m. ET Sept. 8). It was expected to graze the Earth, causing a minor solar storm starting Friday.
Not sure where this article originated from, but it also says Friday and Sat, tho I think something is lost in translation or it's just a really poorly written piece.
NASA’s recent reports alerted that Earth’s magnetic field will face a double-blow from a pair of CMEs on Sept. 12th. Previously, the two storm clouds were propelled in our direction by explosions in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2158, which also fired off another intense solar flare on 9th and 10. These two flare outburst process was captured on camera by NASA. Huge geomagnetic tornados are expected on Sept. 12th and 13th as an outcome of the above repeated impacts.
Solar flares are exploding of high-energy radiation. Huge ones are frequently convoyed by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which send clouds of superheated solar plasma streaking through space at millions of miles per hour. These incoming two CMEs that will strike Earth can produce powerful geomagnetic storms, which can cause short-term interruption in radio communications, GPS navigation, and power grids.
The AR2158 burst of Sept 10th reasoned a radio blackout on Earth and it was also liable for a minor-intensity eruption. Strangely, it also caused an explosion of radio noise. Radio astronomers and hams in the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean listened heavy roaring from the amplifiers of their shortwave receivers. An astronomic scientist stated that “It was extremely horrified,” reports, who mailed this 3-minute evidence recording from his amateur radio observatory in country New Mexico.
Even Ar2158 not stricken straightly at Earth, but that predecessor would produce a partial clearing in the interplanetary medium that would permit two CMEs blasts to reach us on Sept. 12th that is why Sky watchers, even those at mid-latitudes, should be aware of these CMEs.
The intensive radio emissions from shock waves at the leading edge of the CME show that the cloud tore through the sun’s atmosphere at speeds as high as 3,750 km/s. By the time it’s gone from the sun’s atmosphere, though, the cloud had a record speed of 1,400 km/s, this higher speed creates it a quite typical CME instead of a “super CME”.
I have not read very much about solar flares. I wonder if solar astronomers have a good handle on the high end of the range. If there was already a solar flare in pre-observational times (which would only be the last 100 years, I guess; maybe not even that) that was much more energetic than what they think is the high end of the range of variability.
For those who (for whatever reason) would like to contemplate a possible mass-extinction episode, there is a binary star system about 8000 light years away. Astro-physicists think that both stars are in the "ready to go supernova" stage, and one of the stars has its rotational axis pointed directly at our solar system: directly, to the accuracy that they can resolve that from their observations. So if that star (Wolf-Rayet 104) goes supernova, there is conjecture that it could release a focused beam of gamma radiation with the Earth in the "crosshairs". And at 8000 light years distance, that beam could be energetic enough to cause big time damage to the Earth's atmosphere.
Of course, it could be that it has already happened within the last 8000 years, and the gamma ray burst (GRB) is already coming our way at the speed of light.
Whobody knows?
Here's a very recently published report, with an image of Wolf-Rayet 104. Not sure exactly what makes up the image, but it is one of those false color images that are commonly published with such reports. Looks like a pinwheel (child's toy).
I never get to have any fun anymore. Is one little extention-level event SOOOOOO much to ask for ? 
. We have been spared, 
.
