Tsunami of Magnetism from the Sun?

Solar Tsunami Time?

By: Ernie Fitzpatrick
It's a first, or so they say.

Thanks to SOHO, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, we know a lot more about the sun and thus our life on the third rock from the sun. On Sunday, few people were aware that we kicked off August with a very unusual event that's now being called a SOLAR TSUNAMI. We know about sun spots, but what's a SOLAR TSUNAMI?
It's potentially not a good thing for us humans.
A solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths. SDO was launched in February and peers deep into the layers of the sun, investigating the mysteries of its inner workings. And even when we do that we don't know what we're looking at or why!

Over at Space Weather dot.com they reported, "On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. Click on the image to view just a fraction of the action."
What's it all mean Alfie?
Well, for one we're seeing all kind of tremors around the globe. There are lots of 5 and 6 magnitude earthquakes going off. Here in the good old USofA we're registering way too many California and Alaska 3-4.3 magnitude quakes. In other words, there's a whole lotta shaking going on. How far will it go, we may not know until Friday.
Wednesday through Friday could be interesting!
Seeing the sun erupt on such a global scale has galvanized the international community of solar physicists. Researchers are still sorting out the complex sequence of events and trying to understand why they all happened at once. This "all at once" phrase is what we're not so sure of. So, hang on as it might be a wild ride over the next 48 hours.
About the Author
As a spiritual-futurist, I have a BA degree majoring in history. One cannot know the future without knowing the past which holds clues to what is on the horizon. The world is in such a rapid expansion of knowledge that we are close to entering a tipping point that will forever change earth as we know it.

(ArticlesBase SC #2954407)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Solar Tsunami Time?
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From SpaceWeather.com:

 GEOMAGNETIC STORM--MORE TO COME? The solar storm of August 1st sent two CMEs toward Earth. The first one arrived yesterday, August 3rd, sparking mild but beautiful Northern Lights over Europe and North America (see below). The second CME is still en route. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of major geomagnetic storms when the cloud arrives on August 4th or 5th. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on August 3rd at 1740 UT. The impact sparked a G2-class geomagnetic storm that lasted nearly 12 hours--time enough for auroras to spread all the way from Europe to North America. Travis Novitsky sends this picture from Grand Portage, Minnesota:

"The Northern Lights made a pretty good showing last night!" says Novitsky. "I was lucky to catch them during a break in the clouds. I took all these pictures between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m local time using my Canon 5D Mark II."

"Wow!" says photographer Tony Wilder of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. "It was a sweet surprise to catch the auroras over Lake Wissota. The Northern Lights never get old."

With the possible arrival of a second CME on August 4th, tonight might be even better than last night. Imagine that as you browse the gallery.

NEW IMAGES: August Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Augusts: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003]

COMPLEX ERUPTION ON THE SUN: On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. This extreme ultraviolet snapshot from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun's northern hemisphere in mid-eruption:

Different colors in the image represent different gas temperatures ranging from ~1 to 2 million degrees K. Watch the movie. Some parts of the sun heat up during the eruption, other parts cool down. These are priceless data for solar physicists working to understand the inner workings of solar storms. Stay tuned for more movies and analyses in the days ahead.