Category Archives: Sun

Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP)

Posted on August 26, 2012 by PlatoHagel

The launch of an Atlas V carrying NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) payload was scrubbed today due to weather conditions associated with lightning, as well as cumulus and anvil clouds. With the unfavorable weather forecast as a result of … Continue reading →

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EO: Earth Observatory

Posted on July 14, 2012 by PlatoHagel

Twelve years after the Earth was buffeted by one of the more potent Sun storms in modern history, our nearest star crackled with activity again. A solar flare erupted on July 12, 2012, followed closely by a companion coronal mass … Continue reading →

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Latest SDO IMage

Posted on July 10, 2012 by PlatoHagel

This image taken by SDO’s AIA instrument at 171 Angstrom shows the current conditions of the quiet corona and upper transition region of the Sun. Active Region 1515 released an M6.9 class flare beginning at 12:23 PM EDT and peaking … Continue reading →

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Songs of the Stars: the Real Music of the Spheres

Posted on April 24, 2012 by PlatoHagel

With the discovery of sound waves in the CMB, we have entered a new era of precision cosmology in which we can begin to talk with certainty about the origin of structure and the content of matter and energy in … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaldni, Helioseismology, Sonification, Sonoluminence, Sun | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finding the Limits of Science?

Posted on March 5, 2012 by PlatoHagel

By ‘dilating’ and ‘expanding’ the scope of our attention we not only discover that ‘form is emptiness’ (the donut has a hole), but also that ’emptiness is form’ (objects precipitate out of the larger ‘space’) – to use Buddhist terminology. … Continue reading →

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Comet LoveJoy

Posted on December 16, 2011 by PlatoHagel

Comet Lovejoy seen by SOHO “On average, new Kreutz-group comets are discovered every few days by SOHO, but from the ground they are much rarer to see or discover,” says Karl Battams, Naval Research Laboratory, who curates the Sun-grazing comets … Continue reading →

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Solar Weather

Posted on September 14, 2011 by PlatoHagel

Sunspot 1283 Bristling With Flares: An X1.8 and An M6.7 – UPDATED 09.08.11   The Sun as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 193 angstrom. The verticle black area near the center is the coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO … Continue reading →

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Living With A Star

Posted on March 29, 2011 by PlatoHagel

The Living With a Star (LWS) program emphasizes the science necessary to understand those aspects of the Sun and the Earth’s space environment that affect life and society. The ultimate goal is to provide a predictive understanding of the system, … Continue reading →

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SOHO EIT 304 Latest Image

Posted on October 11, 2010 by PlatoHagel

The Sun Now– EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) images the solar atmosphere at several wavelengths, and therefore, shows solar material at different temperatures. In the images taken at 304 Angstrom the bright material is at 60,000 to 80,000 degrees Kelvin. … Continue reading →

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Fear and Ignorance

Posted on October 16, 2008 by PlatoHagel

This is a very significant physical result because it tells us that the energy of a system described by a harmonic oscillator potential cannot have zero energy. Physical systems such as atoms in a solid lattice or in polyatomic molecules … Continue reading →

Posted in Harmonic Oscillator, Self Evident, SOHO, Sonoluminence, Sound, Sun | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment