Subject: A Solar Storm that you may not have heard about
Hello Friend,
What are the odds of this happening again?
Way back in 1859, an English amateur astronomer,
a fellow by the name of Thomas Carrington, observed and noted Solar activity (sunspots)
and then, lo and behold, there was a large coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun.
That event is called the Carrington event.
Well, it pretty well knocked out much of the Telegraph service in the United States and
affected the ability to transmit data.
If the Indians were coming, well the Calvary sure didn't find out about it, till likely it was too late.
Many spectacular aurora's were also visible as a result.
The odds of this happening again, in the next decade are about 14%.
Now, true enough we did have a CME a couple of years ago, and according to NASA
we were "saved" due to the particular timing of that event, and the earth's rotation.
Imagine the consequences of our power grids, in North America today; it could be catastrophic
and we could be without power for several weeks or much longer.
Shudder....!
And this is yet another reason to include Solar Observation in your astronomy hobby.
Imagine, being able to observe and even record, solar activity over a period of time to observe
the changes firsthand.
One of the best ways, besides taking images, is to also consider sketching what you see through
a dedicated solar scope.
In fact, Alex at the store here has done some very detailed observations of Sunspot activity and
kept excellent sketches and records of his observation from a few years back.
He is also quite knowledgeable and knows all the ins and outs of Solar scopes.
Here are two Solar Scopes that you might want to consider checking out right now.
1) Personal Solar Telescope (PST) by Coronado
http://www.khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=1776
http://www.khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=3301
And if you need a reason: They're on sale right now.
Clear and Sunny Skies,
Ray Khan
PS It's fascinating that we all love to talk about the weather. Nothing beat's a warm sunny day to put a smile
on my face, and a darn good reason to set up Solar Scope and check out Sol for a few minutes, even during
a workday :)