Tuesday, April 26, 2011

B-Class Eruption


'B' STANDS FOR ... BORING? On the Richter Scale of solar flares, B-class eruptions are weak and generally considered boring. Really? Consider the following B-class eruption recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on April 23rd.

That wasn't boring. On the contrary, the blast hurled hundreds of thousands of tons of plasma above the stellar surface with a power akin to millions of atomic bombs. The only thing more amazing than the blast was its aftermath. For all that power, the explosion was insufficient to break the plasma free from the sun's grasp. Magnetic fields arcing above underlying sunspot 1193 held tight to the expanding gas and pulled it back down with a dynamic double bounce.

One of the most significant findings from SDO, barely a year after First Light, is that there are no truly boring solar flares. The observatory's Hubble-like cameras have revealed hidden power and fascination in even the smallest eruptions, leaving us waiting with anticipation for the next B-flare. Stay tuned.

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My Stamp Collecting Blog

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HOW TO READ PROPAGATION NUMBERS

The A index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 1 to 6 is BEST
  • 7 to 9 is OK
  • 11 or more is BAD

Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Ap" if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) ('A' referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

SFI index [ HIGH is GOOD ]

  • 70 NOT GOOD
  • 80 GOOD
  • 90 BETTER
  • 100+ BEST

The measure of total radio emissions from the sun at 10.7cm (2800 MHz), on a scale of 60 (no sunspots) to 300, generally corresponding to the sunspot level, but being too low in energy to cause ionization, not related to the ionization level of the Ionosphere.

Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 0 or 1 is BEST
  • 2 is OK
  • 3 or more is BAD
  • 5 is VERY VERY BAD

The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Kp" if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

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