CCoronal Mass Ejection Aug 2, 2010: Implications for Earthbound Folks?

[diogenesNY]

Well, the title kinda describes it... as of Aug 2, 2010.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/08/coronal-mass-ej.html

Notwithstanding fun, sensationalist, doomsday stories, what, if any, are the bread and butter implications to us earthbound folks? How about any issues with the space station and its inhabitants?

The video is pretty cool and dramatic, but I suspect that (notwithstanding the 2012 crowd) it is something that is more 'flashy' than dangerous, ...dramatic tho it is. Makes for some darn cool entertainment though. The natural universe: even cooler than the stuff you see on TV :)

Seriously, how significant is this? Is this in the realm of sunspots, or is this something more traumatic and rare for our old pal Sol? Just a fun triviality or will this seriously affect radio/electronic usage? (I suspect not from what I have read, but I await more informed views).

--diogenesNY

 

[Chronos]

A CME could be a serious problem for space travelers. It is a real headache for NASA in planning any mission to mars. Even the moon missions were planned in part based on solar activity. Not so much a problem for stuff in Earth orbits. They are relatively slow moving and detectable in time to shut down satellites and return shuttles to earth.

 

[EinsteinII]

Any updates on when they will be hitting us?

 

[diogenesNY]

It hit on the First of August...

Lotta pretty lights in the sky if you were in the right place (apparently as far south as Michigan). According to the linked article (have a look, it has plenty of details) it was a class C3 eruption, not too big, mostly pretty lights.

have a look:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7926176/Solar-storm-hitting-Earth-causes-spectacular-aurora-displays.html

diogenesNY