Solar Flare
A solar flare is a large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere that can release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy. The term is also used to refer to similar phenomena in other stars, where the term stellar flare applies. "Killer" solar flares have been observed on other stars. In 2006, NASA's Swift observatory saw the largest stellar flare ever observed 135 light-years away. Estimated to have unleashed an energy of 50 million trillion atomic bombs, the II Pegasi flare will have wiped out most life on Earth if our Sun fired X-rays from a flare of that energy at us.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a more significant ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity. If a CME enters interplanetary space, it is referred to as an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME). ICMEs are capable of reaching and colliding with Earth's magnetosphere, where they can cause geomagnetic storms, aurorae, and in rare cases damage to electrical power grids and the internet.
Solar flares affect all layers of the solar atmosphere (photosphere, corona, and chromosphere), heating plasma to tens of millions of Kelvin's and accelerating electrons, protons, and heavier ions to near the speed of light. They produce radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays. Most flares occur in active regions around sunspots, where intense magnetic fields penetrate the photosphere to link the corona to the solar interior. Flares are powered by the sudden (timescales of minutes to tens of minutes) release of magnetic energy stored in the corona. If a solar flare is exceptionally powerful, it can cause coronal mass ejections.
X-rays and UV radiation emitted by solar flares can affect Earth's ionosphere and disrupt long-range radio communications. Direct radio emission at decametric wavelengths may disturb operation of radars and other devices operating at these frequencies.
Solar flares release a cascade of high energy particles known as a proton storm. Protons can pass through the human body, doing biochemical damage. The proton storms are produced in the solar wind, and hence present a hazard to astronauts during interplanetary travel. Most proton storms take two or more hours from the time of visual detection to reach Earth's orbit. A solar flare on January 20, 2005 released the highest concentration of protons ever directly measured, taking only 15 minutes after observation to reach Earth, indicating a velocity of approximately one-half light speed.
In 1859 a solar astronomer named “Carrington” observed a major solar flare and directly linked it to impact on earth. The EMP pulse blew out "The Victorian Internet" of its time - telegraphy systems, starting fires in telegraph stations, and even on fence posts that had barbed wire leading to them.
The general consensus in the community of scientists and military who deal with EMP on a day to day basis, is that a solar or military EMP is not a question of if, it is only a question of when.
Evidence exists that a star known as WR104, in the constellation of Sagittarius, about 20 to 30 times the size of our sun, will explode with a gamma ray burst that could come our way anytime. In fact, at 8,000 light years away, it may have already exploded and the death ray is already on its way to Earth.
To help resist this form of catastrophe, the Vivos shelters are designed to substantially withstand:
- Severe electro-magnetic pulses (EMP) from a solar flare, terrorist or terror state attack.
- Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) from a significant solar ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona.
- Radiation exposure
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Solar Flare; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, without graphics owned by The Vivos Group, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Don't Be Left Out!
Join us while you still can and space is available.
Contact us to obtain more information and to secure your space in a Vivos bunker.
