Astro-Porn of the Day: Coronal Mass Ejection. Plus: Where's Chris Been?

[mckitterick]

In Crazy-Land, that's where. Not suprising, what with teaching five classes (two in new formats), working with two grad theses, directing a couple of internships, editing a magazine issue, revising a novel, writing proposals, taking applications for the AboutSF position, reading novels for the Campbell Award, soliciting and reading work for the upcoming World Literature Today special science-fiction issue, and a few hundred other things.

In the immortal words of the Emperor of the Universe, "Imperial battle cruiser: Halt the flow of time!"


Click the image to get yourself a copy of STARCRASH, perhaps the B-est B-movie of all time.

Sorry for not posting more. Oh, and I promised astro-porn, didn't I? Here, have an awesome movie that shows a coronal mass-ejection on the Sun! Think of the size and power of this thing:


Click the image to see the Spaceweather story.

"Oh my god, it's coming right at us!" According to Spaceweather, "Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observed a bright double-ringed coronal mass ejection billowing over the Sun's western limb during the late hours of Feb. 1. At present, the source of the blast is unknown."

Okay, I'm back to work!
Chris

Comments

[roya-spirit.livejournal.com]

Ooh Ooh!

Another solar wind stream is en route to Earth and it should be stronger than the one we're experiencing now. High latitude sky watchers and weather satellites should be alert for auroras when the stream arrives on or about Feb. 10th.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

We are headed toward a period of high activity, so expect your fancy new cell-phone device to intermittently become a paperweight ;-)

[roya-spirit.livejournal.com]

Have folks really had that happen?
I've yet to have anything like that, I haz Teh Netwerk!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Not yet - we're just entering a period of high solar activity. In fact, it's been 11 years since the last upswing, so pretty much no one had cell phones the last go-round... and those who did expected troubles.

[roya-spirit.livejournal.com]

EENteresting!

[jensixstones.livejournal.com]

The ejection looks like an ear flying through space. Although, I would not surprised if someone said they see the face of Jesus.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! Oh, I'm seeing Jesus all right.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Ol' Sol's just chillin', blowing smoke rings.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Y'know, that's actually a pretty accurate description....

[tully01.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't apologize. We understand. Just be sure to throw us some astro-pr0n now and then...

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I can't help but share the astro-pr0n once in a while.

[pamelonian.livejournal.com]

That ejection DOES look like an ear... Will this affect my wireless internet signal?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Possibly - but you can expect to start experiencing more such problems in the future, as we're headed out of an unusually calm period in the Sun's life and into an active period. Heck, we could lose some satellites completely....