5 ms·
The Return of the X-Flares
- ggm 4y agoPeriodic reminders of the fragility of systems like power distribution if the energy cost for arcing reduces is good (I believe that's only one of the risks from a coronal mass ejection on powerlines and associated equipment) The problem is that coronal mass ejection is the more likely event but by no means the worst: extreme gamma ray bursts[0] would wipe the global EEPROM (wetware) at scale. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y agoNope. Gammaraybust is my WiFi-ID, which is the shield I've put up against that!
- somat 4y agohttps://www.spaceweather.gov/ https://www.spaceweather.gov/ The Coronal Mass Ejections item shows it particularly well.
- localplume 4y agoWhat is the best way to mitigate the effects? I guess nothing for long distance since the radio waves need to bounce off the atmosphere, but what about for more local/direct line of sight?
- fhars 4y agoFibre optics deployed under the surface. Copper cables may work too for smaller flares, but they tend to burn up during larger events. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
- sidewndr46 4y agoI don't think all Fiber optic is free from the effects of geomagnetic storms like the Carrington event. Lots of "fiber" also has copper along with it for critical telemetry and for powering repeaters placed directly into the cable assembly. If the repeaters burn up, the cable still fails. That being said, if a geomagnetic storm takes out fiber laid on the bottom of the ocean we're probably all going to be needing new chromosomes shortly anyhow.
- lxgr 4y agoFiber optics still need amplifiers every couple of kilometers – and to feed these, you'll need a metal-based electricity supply.
- BenjiWiebe 4y agoMore like 100km, I believe.
- lxgr 4y agoYes, but since in many locations in the world you won't find a power grid to tap into every hundred kilometers, that still means you'll effectively have a cable carrying both fiber and copper.
- dark-star 4y agofiber optics might give you data, but you cannot run power over them, and power lines are basically huge antennas... There's not a lot you can do to mitigate that
- ianburrell 4y agoThis only affects HF radio. HF radio goes long distances cause bounce off ionosphere which is disrupted. HF radio isn't used for much these days, mainly amateurs. Most uses have switched to satellite which I don't think is disrupted. The one important use that might be affected is long-distance aviation radio. Higher frequency line-of-sight radios should not be affected. I did see that the extra noise can affect GPS.
- tagami 4y agoDouble whammy -- right over the South Atlantic Anomaly.
- giantrobot 4y agoNow it'll be the South Atlantic Anomalii.
- gnatman 4y ago>More flares are expected from this region as it moves across the sun creating occasional degradation of high frequency (3-30 MHz) communication. that's short wave radio, right?
- vitaflo 4y agoMore specifically the HF band.
- lxgr 4y agoYes: > There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 metres) (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_radio)
- dan_hawkins 4y agoRight, and this also includes CB radio.
- gattr 4y agoShameless plug: I make time-lapse animations of solar flares (among other things) for fun, like this M-class [1] (46 min. of real time, 90 mm diameter telescope with narrow band Hydrogen-alpha filter). [1] https://www.astrobin.com/289991/?nc=collection&nce=1468 https://www.astrobin.com/289991/?nc=collection&nce=1468
- mzerod 4y agoKeeping an eye on this http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/fullday/ http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/fullday/ for the effects on the HF radio band, it might be quite interesting.
- refuse 4y agoOh boy, can't wait to hear old Switchblade on the CB again.