Solar Flare Causes Earthly Static

May 16, 1990|By MICHAEL S.C. CLAFFEY Staff Writer

Jon Bell had an inkling a cosmic event was under way when he turned on the radio Tuesday morning and picked up heavy static.

His suspicion was confirmed moments later when he got a call from the observatory of the Virginia Living Museum, where he is astronomy director. A major solar flare had erupted on the surface of the sun, bombarding the earth's atmosphere with electromagnetic rays and disrupting communications around the globe.

The flare-up was visible on the museum's telescope, Bell said, and looked like "a red river of lava," that was flowing along a 100,000-mile stretch of the sun.

Bell said that the solar activity may create a rare opportunity in Hampton Roads tonight and Thursday night to see the northern lights.

"People don't get to see them here that often," Bell said.

"It's hard to describe the northern lights to someone who hasn't seen them before," he noted. "It's sort of a shimmering or pulsating curtain of light in the sky."

The weather forecast, however, was not promising. The National Weather Service is forecasting partly cloudy skies tonight, with increasing clouds and a chance of showers and thunderstorms Thursday night.

If the clouds hold off, Bell said the best time to view the northern lights will be from just after dark until about midnight, when the moon will rise. For the best view, Bell suggested choosing a place with no artificial light and a clear view of the northern horizon. Among good sites he suggested are along Grandview beach in Hampton, places in Poquoson and along the York County side of the York River.

The solar flare was a thermonuclear explosion that allowed hydrogen gas to escape from the sun.

The flare released "enough energy to power Hampton Roads for the next 200 million years," Bell said,

Electromagnetic light from the flare arrived at earth within minutes, Bell said, because it was traveling at the speed of light, covering the 93 million miles from the sun at a rate of 186,000 miles per second.

That's why Bell picked up static interference when he turned on the radio Tuesday morning. The electromagnetic waves also interfere with everything from satellite communications to electronic garage door openers, Bell said, causing some of them to open and close on their own.

The ionized particles, which are matter, not light, travel more slowly, Bell said, at the relatively sluggish pace of 50 million miles a day. That's why it takes about two days to see the impact, the northern lights.

Even if the northern lights are not visible tonight, Bell said there is a good chance another opportunity to see them will arise in the next year or two.

Daily Press Articles