TopBand: Propagation note [via LSMTP - see www.lsoft.com]

[km1h@juno.com]

The following may be of interest to many 160M ops...if not hit delete.
73....Carl   KM1H



--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Chuck Rippel <crippel@exis.net>
To: COLLINS@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Subject: Propagation note [via LSMTP - see www.lsoft.com]
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 15:51:50 -0800
Message-ID: <199701270451.XAA22334@marlin.exis.net>

An interesting propagation note.  Believe it or not, this came from
one of the leading SWL DX news bulletins.

<< NEWS REPORT on CORONAL MASS EJECTION from Kevin Murray >>

     I was in Maryland on family business and saw this interesting
     article
in the Jan 23 ed. of the Washington Post (front page).  It describes a
Jan 6 coronal mass ejection which hit the earth on Jan 10, causing the
ionesphere to react with 100 times the normal energy levels, and
remain that way for several days.  I thought some of you may want to
see if you made some unusual logs during this time, which could be
explained by this solar event.  Excerpts from the article follow.
     "A vast magnetic cloud erupted from the sun and collided head-on
     with
Earth at a million miles an hour earlier this month, delivering a
"one-two punch" to the Earth's magnetic field. . .  This powerful
solar belch might have passed largely unnoticed but for a new intl
fleet of satellites now in position to study the 'space weather' that
flows regularly from the sun and sometimes disrupts communications,
military radar and other electronic systems.  The satellites saw it
coming, making this the first such eruption to be recorded from
beginning to end by scientific instruments.
     "First observed in the early 1970s, these eruptions, known as
     'coronal
mass ejections,' may occur as often as once a day when the sun is in
its most active phase, and pose no known immediate danger to human
health.  The latest drama began at 11 a.m. EST on Jan 6, when the
joint NASA-European Space Agency satellite SOHO first detected the
eruption of magnetic particles--essentially the sun's own
substance--blasting out of the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona,
scientists said at a briefing yesterday.
     "As the big bubble raced toward Earth, it was so large that it
     took
more than a day to pass any given point.  SOHO and NASA's WIND,
another satellite stationed between the Earth and the sun, recorded
the eruption in a series of time lapse images, as well as measuring
its velocity and other aspects.  WIND data showed the cloud was 30
million miles thick.
     "On Jan 10, right on the schedule predicted by researchers, the
     big
bubble hit the Earth's magnetic field, mashed it briefly toward the
planet's surface . . . like a fist hitting a balloon, engulfed the
Earth, and rolled on into interplanetary space.
     "It kicked up the energy intensity in Earth's natural radiation
     belts
to more than 100 times normal, by one estimate, where it remained for
several days.
     "The cloud created 'a one-two punch,' said Robert Hoffman, lead
scientist for the POLAR satellite (inside the Earth's magnetosphere)
at yesterday's briefing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt. First, the cloud of highly energetic electrons and protons
poured energy into the magnetosphere, releasing energy explosively as
magnetic substorms and pumping up the radiation belts.  Then, early on
Jan 11, unexpectedly, a 'huge pressure bubble' at the trailing edge of
the bubble hit Earth, he said.
     "This pulse was actually an unusually dense region, where up to
     200
times more highly energetic particles--including 'killer electrons'
that can spawn even more destructive X-rays--were packed into each
square inch than in the rest of the cloud.
     "'It was essentially like it (Earth's magnetosphere) was hit with
     a
hammer,' Hoffman said, jacking the energy in the radiation belts up
even further.  'This rang the magnetosphere of Earth like a bell.'
     "Solar experts believe the eruptions might be caused by sudden
disruptions in the sun's own stable magnetic field, as field lines
stretch and twist like titanic rubber bands, and then snap.  The sun
currently is in a period of relatively low activity.  Scientisits said
they can hardly wait for the buildup to 'solar maximum' over the next
three or four years.
     "The most disruptive recent solar weather event occurred during
     the
last period of maximum solar activity in March 1989, and knocked out
power systems around Quebec.  This month's event was smaller."
     Anyway, long article, but I wonder if there are any web sites
     which
would give advance warning of one these clouds before it hits the
Earth? Given all these new satellites, perhaps we could all be ready
at our radios each time one of these events occurs, as the solar cycle
heads toward maximum in the next few years. (Kevin Murray-MA)  This
explains why I couldn't hear Gangtok that week. (JB)
---------------------------------------------------

Chuck Rippel
crippel@exis.net

---------------------------------------------------

--------- End forwarded message ----------

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