Rare spate of solar storms

Unusual sunspot activity has bombarded the SOHO spacecraft, causing them to go into "safe mode"

A large sunspot has been the site of several major eruptions in recent days, including one Thursday that was the largest of the series. Charged particles from the events have been hammering orbital spacecraft.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

The storms caused minor glitches on the sun-watching SOHO spacecraft and forced scientists to put two of its instruments into "safe mode," not unlike an electronic nap.

Sunspot eruptions seem to been happening more frequently and with more intense strength, I know it has effects on sunsets and and atmospheric conditions, but do they have the power to effect the weather on earth.

Actually, it's not that the number of solar storms is rare, because in 2003 we actually saw an extended period of a high frequency of solar flares. What's interesting is the colossal size of 720 and how large the belch was from it.

If the sun was about to go super nova, would they know?

Sometimes I worry that it's not to far off.

This site believes earth is a mirror image of the sun. The Suns solar flares are like our clouds/storms.

www.allanstime.com...
These Sun / Earth images were captured within a few hours of each other. Do weather patterns on earth mirror sunspot activity on the Sun? You be the judge. Months ago while viewing these daily released satellite photos of the Earth and Sun I began to notice a striking similarity between the two. I decided to post a daily comparison for further study. Since then I have never ceased to be amazed at the results. There are days when there is little apparent similarity but over a period of time more often than not the similarities return with stunning accuracy.

I've been watching the SOHO site rather carefully lately, and it does seem like it is going through some exceptional convulsions lately

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...

click on the picture of the sun on the upper right hand corner for some super shots of the surface.
I swear the dark spot on the right side is vaguely reminiscent of the Star Trek symbol.

coincidence or is this a sign that we'd better get spaceward?

Originally posted by crisko
If the sun was about to go super nova, would they know?

Sometimes I worry that it's not to far off.

Well first off, the Sun will not EVER go supernova. So something you don't have to worry about. On top of that, the Sun will not begin the end of its life for another few billion years. For more information read Astronomy: Lives of Stars. It should help you get an idea of how stars, of any size, go about their lives.

Ycon, simply put: No.