Nothing here except the usual M6.6Class Solar Flare

According to Space Weather.com, Saturday, Feb 19th, 2011,
spaceweather.com...
sunspot complexes, numbers 1161-1162 on Feb. 18th, are fast growing complexes producing a M6.6 Class solar flare. This is almost an X category flare, and one of the strongest in years. These cause waves of ionization in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and disrupt many radio frequencies. However, some signals can actually be boosted, while others diminished. I thought people would like to see a photo of what is causing these spectacular Auroras and broadcast disruptions.





By comparing the two photos, you can match up the CME's with the sunspot activity.
This is a very descriptive and eloquent definition of the above provided by spaceweather.com...
"A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays. Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare."

Amazing photograph..it looks like a giant marble.

There's a thread for this here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Last night, countless plazas down Yonge Street in Newmarket Ontario, Canada, were all shut off except for a select few. I have never seen Yonge Street this dark before, should we be expecting more?

reply to post by Phage

PHAGE!!!!!
Where have you been???
I'm glad to see you back.
Have you been well?
We have have missed you (well sort of until now
Just Kidding )
I didn't know that these photos were already in an other thread.

reply to post by Phage

OK, I just got finished reading the premise. It appears to be another monopoly thread like the Yellowstone earthquake thread.
Whatever, I guess all solar activity can go to that thread.
Violator1 out.

reply to post by Violater1


I think it is a very good idea to have a thread for any major solar activity, like the X-class thread earlier this week, or something along those lines. While an M 6.6 is on the larger side for this cycle, second only to the X we just had and equal to the other M-class that started this past week off, it still is not a very large flare, and with no evidence of a CME associated with it, just not that big of a deal really.

The purpose of the Solar Watch thread is to catch all of the more common things, as well as the big things. If this was a flare in the order of an X 20+, I would expect to see multiple threads jumping, as well as the Solar Watch thread.

It's nothing personal, in fact I think it is awesome that you are keeping an eye on the sun, as many ATS'rs are. It's more of a size issue