Space In General

[Dotini]

Recurrent Novae
They go boom over and over again.

There is evidence to support the notion that our own Sun undergoes cyclical superflares/micro-novae.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Raptor has arrived.

 

[Danoff]

Recurrent Novae
They go boom over and over again.

There is evidence to support the notion that our own Sun undergoes cyclical superflares/micro-novae.

Did a quick search on this and didn't find much in the way of documented literature. We know that our sun is not producing any kind of devastating outburst (other than CMEs) at frequencies on the order of 20-50 years, obviously. The claim that it might be more on the order of 10,000 or 100,000 years is not out of the question, but I do wonder why this takes some sort of conspiracy to maintain. If nothing else, it sounds like a theory with very little evidence to back it up, and which may be hard to show evidence which it could not fit.

We know shockingly little about the sun and other stars, but it is an area of ongoing research and we've gotten a lot better at it.

 

[Dotini]

Did a quick search on this and didn't find much in the way of documented literature. We know that our sun is not producing any kind of devastating outburst (other than CMEs) at frequencies on the order of 20-50 years, obviously. The claim that it might be more on the order of 10,000 or 100,000 years is not out of the question, but I do wonder why this takes some sort of conspiracy to maintain. If nothing else, it sounds like a theory with very little evidence to back it up, and which may be hard to show evidence which it could not fit.

We know shockingly little about the sun and other stars, but it is an area of ongoing research and we've gotten a lot better at it.

Thank you for your reply. I'm hip deep in studying this issue. It could be suitable for several threads. There's been a lot of study on this ever since black, green and orange glass not from volcanoes or meteors was discovered on the Moon. Here's a couple of quick teasers:

"Stars just like our Sun have flares more than a million times more energetic than the biggest flare ever seen on the Sun"
- Bradley E Schaefer, Nature 485, 456-457, 24 May 2012

Charlemagne Event
At least 1000 times more energetic than the Carrington Event
https://phys.org/news/2012-11-sun-source-eighth-century-charlemagne-event.html

 

[Danoff]

Thank you for your reply. I'm hip deep in studying this issue. It could be suitable for several threads. There's been a lot of study on this ever since black, green and orange glass not from volcanoes or meteors was discovered on the Moon. Here's a couple of quick teasers:

"Stars just like our Sun have flares more than a million times more energetic than the biggest flare ever seen on the Sun"
- Bradley E Schaefer, Nature 485, 456-457, 24 May 2012

Charlemagne Event
At least 1000 times more energetic than the Carrington Event
https://phys.org/news/2012-11-sun-source-eighth-century-charlemagne-event.html

Well I'll be interested in hearing the results from your studies. 👍

A couple of quick observations on those two statements. The first, the other stars are not just like our sun if they're having flares a million times more energetic than the biggest we've ever seen. Especially not if those flares are coming with any regularity. The second, your quoted link says that the event was approx. 10 times more energetic than the Carrington Event.

"What they concluded was that the energy emitted by the Sun would have had to have been, say, 1,000 times larger than the Carrington event—the greatest solar flare ever known," Melott said. "We just observed this simple mistake and corrected it, and the answer came out that it would be 10 or 20 times greater than the Carrington event in 1859. That means that this may be a more reasonable explanation. The Carrington event is the greatest in the last 200 years, and this would be the greatest thing in the last 1,300 years or so, so it becomes more reasonable."

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2012-11-sun-source-eighth-century-charlemagne-event.html#jCp

 

[Dotini]

Well I'll be interested in hearing the results from your studies. 👍

A couple of quick observations on those two statements. The first, the other stars are not just like our sun if they're having flares a million times more energetic than the biggest we've ever seen. Especially not if those flares are coming with any regularity. The second, your quoted link says that the event was approx. 10 times more energetic than the Carrington Event.

This is research that is not pleasant to discuss. It'll be a while before I return to it.

 

[Danoff]

This is research that is not pleasant to discuss. It'll be a while before I return to it.

What's unpleasant about it? The catastrophic world-ending nature? Stack that one up with super volcanoes (another one with conspiracies attached to it), gamma ray bursts, asteroids, global warming, and artificial intelligence.

 

[Touring Mars]

It's something of a paradox...

As a linked article says, gamma-ray bursts may have been responsible for previous mass extinction events on Earth, but without such events (regardless of their cause), we likely wouldn't be here to have this discussion right now...

 

[Dotini]

Little by little, we learn more about solar storms. Fresh news just this morning.

One of the strongest known solar storms blasted Earth in 660 B.C.
Traces left in ice cores and tree rings allowed researchers to estimate the storm’s power
BY
CAROLYN GRAMLING
3:26PM, MARCH 11, 2019

BLASTS FROM THE PAST Swift, powerful bursts of charged particles emitted by the sun can be strong enough to breach Earth’s magnetosphere (blue bubble in illustration). To see how common such emissions have been in Earth’s past, scientists look for telltale data in tree rings and ice cores.

NASA

One of the strongest solar storms ever to hurtle toward Earth blasted the planet in 660 B.C., researchers say, based on traces of the storm preserved in both ice cores and tree rings. The study was published online March 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

As the sun’s magnetic field shifts, it occasionally releases bursts of charged particles into space. In the most extreme solar storms, called solar proton events, these charged particles are dramatically sped up by interactions with other solar emissions: solar flares or coronal mass ejections. Even Earth’s protective magnetic field can’t deflect such swift, energetic particle streams. The radiation is particularly hazardous to modern technology and astronauts.

It’s unclear how common such extreme events are; satellite- and ground-based instruments have tracked them for only about 70 years. To look farther back in time, researchers hunt for spikes in cosmogenic radionuclides such as carbon-14 — recorded in tree rings — or beryllium-10 and chlorine-36 — preserved in ice cores. Such radionuclides form when cosmic rays interact with molecules in Earth’s atmosphere.

In 2017, scientists identified a sudden spike in tree ring carbon-14 dating to about 660 B.C. that might indicate a solar proton event. But a carbon-14 spike can also signal a supernova or a solar flare.

In the new study, researchers led by geologist Paschal O’Hare, then at Lund University in Sweden, examined two Greenland ice cores. O’Hare, now at Heathgate Resources in Adelaide, Australia, and his colleagues found spikes in beryllium-10 and chlorine-36 dating to the same time.

The relative abundance of the radionuclides in the ice suggested that the 660 B.C. event was about 10 times more powerful than a 1956 event, the strongest solar storm recorded by instruments. The only known solar storm to rival the ancient storm’s power occurred in A.D. 774–775, an event also recorded in tree rings and ice cores.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/one-strongest-known-solar-storms-blasted-earth-660-bc


Evidence of ‘enormous’ solar storm suggests devastating event could be around corner
‘If that solar storm had occurred today, it could have had severe effects on our high-tech society’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...redicted-effects-communications-a8817881.html

 

[CodeRedR51]

Starship hopper will begin tests next week.

 

[CodeRedR51]

So they will not be replacing the nose cone on the Starship hopper. Sections being built at the moment on-site are for the first orbital vehicle.

 

[Carbon_6]

Turns out an asteroid entered, and exploded in Earth's atmosphere in 2018, but it went largely unnoticed until now because it blew up over the Bering Sea, off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.



According to NASA, at about noon local time on December 18th, the asteroid barrelled through the atmosphere at a speed of 32km/s on a 7 degree trajectory. Measuring several metres in size, it exploded around 25km above the Earth's surface, with an impact energy of 173 kilotons, about 40% of the energy release from the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia back in February 2013.

 

[Dotini]

From spaceweather.com:

SPRING GEOMAGNETIC STORMS: Cracks in Earth's magnetic field? It only sounds like science fiction. In fact, a magnetic crack opened for more than 5 hours on March 16-17. The resulting G1-class geomagnetic storm sparked stunning auroras around the Arctic Circle. "The display I witnessed knocked me off my feet!" says photographer of Göran Strand of Björkliden Sweden:



"What a fantastic show," he says. "Here is a link to some realtime footage."

The storm was not predicted, yet it comes as no surprise. The vernal equinox is only days away, and at this time of year cracks often form in Earth's magnetic field. Solar wind can pour through the gaps to fuel bright displays of Arctic lights.

This is called the the "Russell-McPherron effect," named after the researchers who first explained it. The cracks are opened by the solar wind itself. South-pointing magnetic fields inside the solar wind oppose Earth's north-pointing magnetic field. The two, N vs. S, partially cancel one another, weakening our planet's magnetic defenses.



This cancellation can happen at any time of year, but it happens with greatest effect around the equinoxes. Indeed, a 75-year study shows that March is the most geomagnetically active month of the year, followed closely by September-October–a direct result of "equinox cracks."

Northern spring begins on March 20th. Stay tuned for green. Aurora Alerts:SMS text, email.

 

[HoseHead]

I thought this was pretty sweet

 

[Dotini]

- Earth's magnetic field is weakening very rapidly.
- The Sun is entering a grand minimum.
- Implications are potentially extremely significant
- Do you want to know more, or is this information so abhorrent that you wish to ignore it?

Earth’s magnetic field could flip within a human lifetime
https://news.berkeley.edu/2014/10/14/earths-magnetic-field-could-flip-within-a-human-lifetime/

Magnetic field reversals possibly correlate with mass extinctions.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X14001629

 

[CodeRedR51]

Starship hopper undergoing pressure testing, and could start tests as early as Wednesday.

 

[Novalee]

Yes the starhopper is looking good

https://www.universetoday.com/14182...opper-tests-could-come-as-early-as-this-week/

The Starship is designed to eventually carry up to 100 people to Mars and back. It’s powered by a massively powered booster called the “Super Heavy,” though it will use SpaceX’s Raptor engines for these test flights.

 

[Danoff]

Yes the starhopper is looking good

It looks like it was beaten, run over, and then used as a golfing target.

 

[CodeRedR51]

It looks like it was beaten, run over, and then used as a golfing target.

No, it looks like R2-D2.

 

[wfooshee]

No, it looks like R2-D2.

Like he said...

 

[Tired Tyres]

- Earth's magnetic field is weakening very rapidly.
- The Sun is entering a grand minimum.
- Implications are potentially extremely significant
- Do you want to know more, or is this information so abhorrent that you wish to ignore it?

Earth’s magnetic field could flip within a human lifetime
https://news.berkeley.edu/2014/10/14/earths-magnetic-field-could-flip-within-a-human-lifetime/

Magnetic field reversals possibly correlate with mass extinctions.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X14001629

I saw a documentary about this years ago on British TV. It showed that you can see each flip of orientation in the rock on the ocean bed. It forms from volcanic activity in the relevant orientation at the time. It happens frequently and there is nothing we can do about it so why would anyone want any more information on it?

 

[UKMikey]

http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/education/reversals.html#6

Is there any danger to life?
Almost certainly not. The Earth's magnetic field is contained within a region of space, known as the magnetosphere, by the action of the solar wind. The magnetosphere deflects many, but not all, of the high-energy particles that flow from the Sun in the solar wind and from other sources in the galaxy. Sometimes the Sun is particularly active, for example when there are many sunspots, and it may send clouds of high-energy particles in the direction of the Earth. During such solar 'flares' and 'coronal mass ejections', astronauts in Earth orbit may need extra shelter to avoid higher doses of radiation. Therefore we know that the Earth's magnetic field offers only some, rather than complete, resistance to particle radiation from space. Indeed high-energy particles can actually be accelerated within the magnetosphere.

At the Earth's surface, the atmosphere acts as an extra blanket to stop all but the most energetic of the solar and galactic radiation. In the absence of a magnetic field, the atmosphere would still stop most of the radiation. Indeed the atmosphere shields us from high-energy radiation as effectively as a concrete layer some 13 feet thick.

Human beings and their ancestors have been on the Earth for a number of million years, during which there have been many reversals, and there is no obvious correlation between human development and reversals. Similarly, reversal patterns do not match patterns in species extinction during geological history.

Some animals, such as pigeons and whales, may use the Earth's magnetic field for direction finding. Assuming that a reversal takes a number of thousand years, that is, over many generations of each species, each animal may well adapt to the changing magnetic environment, or develop different methods of navigation.

 

[Dotini]

I saw a documentary about this years ago on British TV. It showed that you can see each flip of orientation in the rock on the ocean bed. It forms from volcanic activity in the relevant orientation at the time. It happens frequently and there is nothing we can do about it so why would anyone want any more information on it?

http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/education/reversals.html#6

Thank you for your interest and response to news concerning the current accelerating collapse of Earth's magnetic field.

I've been interested in this topic for some time, and now general news and science reports are coming along with increasing frequency.

I'm pretty sure you're both familiar with the Carrington Event? It was a very strong X class solar flare which occurred during a time when Earth's magnetic field was very strong. Today, as Earth's magnetic field weakens, it seems M and even C class solar flares are capable of causing localized disruptions to power grids. It is generally acknowledged that another Carrington strength solar flare could cause power grids to go down on continental scales, potentially for months or even years, entailing costs into the trillions and endangering fragile states and societies.

Anyway, thanks again, and if there is any interest in further in-depth discussion of this particular topic, I respectfully suggest it be taken to a different or even a new thread, rather than taking up space here in the Space In General thread.

https://undark.org/article/books-alanna-mitchell-spinning-magnet/

https://www.livescience.com/63414-magnetic-field-rapid-reversal.html

 

[CodeRedR51]

Thought this was interesting. All SpaceX booster landings up to March 2019.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

 

[Dotini]

I will bet it won't happen.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I will bet it won't happen.

What?

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I will bet it won't happen.

This isn't Trump espousing his random desires at a random press event on how he wants the Space Force, this is an Executive mandate to NASA from Trump and Pence saying that NASA shall take the U.S. back to the moon in the next five years. With every other nation with viable space capabilities going to the moon for various missions, seems the U.S. also wishes to do the same. I don't see how this won't or can't happen other than cynical musing that really are confusing to read.

 

[Dotini]

What?

I'm willing to bet, even odds, that due to unanticipated costs and delays, the US will not put a living man on the the Moon within 5 years of today.
Don't get me wrong, I want to see it happen. I just don't think 5 years is adequate time.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I'm willing to bet, even odds, that due to unanticipated costs and delays, the US will not put a living man on the the Moon within 5 years of today.
Don't get me wrong, I want to see it happen. I just don't think 5 years is adequate time.

Well if the government doesn't increase NASA's budget, it won't. They also need to stop asking Boeing to build everything. They are not the quickest at what they do. If anyone makes it to the Moon in 5 years it will be SpaceX...