posted August 08, 2013 12:17 PM            

The Sun's Magnetic Field is about to Flip
Aug. 5, 2013

Something big is about to happen on the sun. According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun's vast magnetic field is about to flip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34gNgaME86Y

"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."

The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of "solar max" will be behind us, with half yet to come.

Hoeksema is the director of Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory, one of the few observatories in the world that monitors the sun's polar magnetic fields. The poles are a herald of change. Just as Earth scientists watch our planet's polar regions for signs of climate change, solar physicists do the same thing for the sun. Magnetograms at Wilcox have been tracking the sun's polar magnetism since 1976, and they have recorded three grand reversals—with a fourth in the offing.

Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle."

A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the "heliosphere") extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.

When solar physicists talk about solar field reversals, their conversation often centers on the "current sheet." The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun's equator where the sun's slowly rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current. The current itself is small, only one ten-billionth of an amp per square meter (0.0000000001 amps/m2), but there’s a lot of it: the amperage flows through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide. Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.

During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy. Scherrer likens the undulations to the seams on a baseball. As Earth orbits the sun, we dip in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around our planet.

Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy. Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth. The current sheet acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.

As the field reversal approaches, data from Wilcox show that the sun's two hemispheres are out of synch.

"The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up," Scherrer said. "Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway."

When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.

posted August 08, 2013 04:08 PM            

And a great post!!!

Been following this on FB~

So, does this mean I cant "tan?"

posted August 08, 2013 08:59 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Randall:
Yep, it's true. It has happened many times before. Amazing event, though! Let's hope the earth doesn't follow suit anytime soon.

---

If the magnetic field of the Earth suddenly changed, and this DOES happen naturally every 250,000 years or so, the consequences would be fascinating. For life, we can see from the fossil record that the past field changes had no significant effect on living organisms. This is most curious because the field reversal ( North magnetic pole shifting to antarctica and the South magnetic pole shifting to the arctic region in the Northern Hemisphere) one might expect the field to go to zero strength for a century or so. This would let cosmic rays freely penetrate to the Earth's surface and cause mutations. This seems not to have had much effect in the past, so we probably don't really know what is going on during these field reversals. There have been a dozen of them over the last few million years, documented in the rock which has emerged and solidified along the mid-Atlantic Ridge where continental plates are slowly separating. These epochs form parallel bands all long the ridge where the rock has stored a fossilized image of the local orientation of the Earth's magnetic field for the last few million years.

Magnetic field wandering would let the aurora borealis occur at any latitude, but other than that there would be no noticeable effects other than changes in the amount of cosmic rays that penetrate to the ground. Even this effect is minimal because we can visit the Arctic and Antarctic and only receive a slight increase in cosmic rays. So long as the strength of the field remains high during this field wandering event, the effects should be pretty benign.

The Earth's magnetic field is believed to be generated by the rotation of the Earth's molten iron-nickel core. The period of field reversal is determined by the rotation rate of the core and its electrical conductivity. If you were to change either one of these, the field orientation, strength and '250,000 year cycle' would be increased or decreased. We also know from studies of the Sun's magnetic dynamo, that this phenomenon can change abruptly as it did during the 'Little Ice Age' on the Earth a few hundred years ago. There were no sunspots observed on the Sun for 50 years or so, then rather abruptly, the familiar 11-year cycle started-up over the course of a few decades. A similar 'chaotic' phenomenon may occur with the Earth 'suddenly' loosing its magnetic field for a few million years. Already, geophysicists have begun to notice a decline in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field, suggesting that the next field reversal epoch may be about to start. It may, however, take a long time to get here, and we don't really know if the decline is just a natural, ripple, or the portend of something far more sinister.
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/q279.html

posted August 09, 2013 02:37 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Randall:
Oops, I meant a pole shift.

---

Pole shift hypothesis

The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis suggests that there have been geologically rapid shifts in the relative positions of the modern-day geographic locations of the poles and the axis of rotation of the Earth, creating calamities such as floods and tectonic events.

There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the solid Earth can rotate with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no super-rapid shifts in the Earth's pole were found during this period.
A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° per million years or less.[3] Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the magnetic poles of the Earth shifted by ~55°.

For more details see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_shift_hypothesis
********************************************

Geomagnetic reversal
A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the Earth's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged. The Earth's field has alternated between periods of normal polarity, in which the direction of the field was the same as the present direction, and reverse polarity, in which the field was the opposite. These periods are called chrons. The time spans of chrons are randomly distributed with most being between 0.1 and 1 million years[citation needed] with an average of 450,000 years. Most reversals are estimated to take between 1,000 and 10,000 years. The latest one, the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, occurred 780,000 years ago. However,a study published in 2012 by a group from the German Research Center for Geosciences suggests that a brief complete reversal occurred only 41,000 years ago during the last glacial period. The reversal lasted only about 440 years with the actual change of polarity lasting around 250 years. During this change the strength of the magnetic field dropped to 5% of its present strength.[1] Brief disruptions that do not result in reversal are called geomagnetic excursions.

For more details see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal

******************************************
Climate Change Has Shifted the Locations of Earth's North and South Poles
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-has-shif ted-location-north-south-poles

posted August 09, 2013 03:07 PM            

------------------
Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted August 09, 2013 08:36 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ami Anne:
Does anyone know a practical way to explain what will happen i.e what the average person would feel? Thanks, sorry if you already said it and I missed it.

---

posted August 10, 2013 03:35 PM            

(humor.clip) Spock- Fascinating! [1:31]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFods1KSWsQ
______________

posted August 10, 2013 09:38 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Randall:
Thanks, LEXX!

---

posted August 10, 2013 09:43 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by mirage29:
Interesting! Miss Lexxigramer!! You ARE 'The Researcher' par excellence!.... Thanks for all the info you provide us!

(humor.clip) Spock- Fascinating! [1:31]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFods1KSWsQ
______________

^ O.P. url...activated:
scienceCasts [4:04]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34gNgaME86Y

---

posted August 11, 2013 09:58 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Randall:
Live long and prosper.

---

The Vulcan salute first appeared in 1967 on the Star Trek second season opening episode, "Amok Time". The gesture famously has a reputation for being difficult for some people to make without practice or the covert pre-positioning of the fingers, and actors on the original show reportedly had to position their fingers off-screen with the other hand before raising their hand into frame. This reputation may stem from variations in individuals' manual dexterity. This reputation is parodied somewhat in the motion picture Star Trek: First Contact when Zefram Cochrane, upon meeting a Vulcan for the first time in human history, is unable to return the Vulcan salute gesture and instead shakes the Vulcan's hand.

In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש , which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the salute. The letter Shin here stands for Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)". Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue. There he saw the blessing performed and was very impressed by it.

The accompanying spoken blessing, "Live long and prosper." (Dif tor heh smusma) in Vulcan language as spoken in Star Trek: The Motion Picture) also appeared for the first time in "Amok Time", scripted by Theodore Sturgeon. The less-known reply is "Peace and long life.", though it is sometimes said first with "Live Long and Prosper" as the reply. This format is similar to common Middle Eastern greetings (Salaam alaykum in Arabic and Shalom aleichem in Hebrew), meaning "peace be upon you", and its reply, "upon you be peace". An even more ancient variation can be found with the Ancient Egyptians: the blessing ankh wedja seneb, usually translated as "may he live, be prosperous, be healthy." William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet contains the line, "Live and be prosperous:and farewell good fellow.

Blessing gesture that was the inspiration for the Vulcan salute:

*************************************
For more please go here
http://www.pinenet.com/~rooster/v-salute.html
to this very nice informative page with illustrations.

posted August 11, 2013 10:17 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by mirage29:
yeah Lexxi.... The Nerds-for-Hire, Unite!! Yes, I understand how 'studying' can feel like such pleasure!! I was thinking about that the other day regarding you. You have real obvious deep marketable skills in Research!!

Someone should hire you for that! A worthy hire!!

---

Now days they want one to have a college degree to do that job and get paid anything worth doing it as a job.
Also unfortunately I suffer from blindness and or partial blindness episodes nearly daily. So such things are not something I can be relied on to do on any schedule or in an upright position.
Lol;
I'm doing segues on my own thread lol.

posted August 16, 2013 07:44 PM            

There are people out there in the position of wanting to "hire".... They are looking for "good people" to do projects and jobs for them. imo, Screw this 'formal' hoop-jumping for "you have to have the 'right diploma'" crap.... 'Private' (truly Private) individuals are around, and they're looking for earnest people. (I want to work and BE with HONEST people too--- Some of these flashy businesses are NOT so-honest people I'm afraid?) Lexxi, they can look for 'what YOU can do' WITH the limitations you've got.... and THEY can "decide" to DO that for you! ALL ON THEIR OWN POWER.... They don't have to 'answer' to anyone bigger than the position they 'already' hold in work and Society.

Maybe you're looking for that 'big' formal status-quo business to hire you on?..... Well you know what else is happening in the business world lately? Some State level, and Fed levels, are giving tax-incentives for some businesses to hire people who are 'limited' or 'disabled' (for whatever reason)....

YOU deserve that chance, Lexxi....!! I will believe in this with you. You are so obviously not a "loafer".... and NEITHER am I!! There are the ones out there who don't care about their lives. I CARE about MY LIFE. And YOU care about YOURS! I don't like being 'thrown in the same bin' as 'people who don't care one way or another about life'. This is Wrong!

I've been contemplating THIS lately. I've been wondering (with the way Neptune FOGS things), if maybe Life is "better" than we've been lead to believe?

It could be 'different' than what we've been MADE to believe? .... We are both trying to emerge and WIN from circumstances stemming from abuse. THAT's IN OUR PAST now. Maybe we've been TOLD how utterly IMPOSSIBLE it will be for us to 'make it' in Life!!!???? Maybe, just maybe.... we can BE and THRIVE and stay MORE than 'just barely alive'???

I just REFUSE to think that YOU would be 'thrown away'........ Sometimes things 'take time' to develop?..... The Times have "changed" now.

Well I feel the MOXY today, to tell you that I think it's HIGH time that you (and I) get a chance to have our lives RE-NEWED!! YOU try really hard.... I try really hard. Well blessit!!, I think that it's "time" for us to 'succeed'.....

We are BOTH having our Second Saturn Returns.... Yours is 11 degrees and mine is 16 degrees Scorpio. Yours is in the 10th house, mine is in the 11th.

We've been through hell and back! and dug a RUT in the process. You and I had no 'say' when we were being abused........ Look at us NOW.... "pushing towards 59, after a quick while, it will be ~60!!" yay, Elderhood!!

I know that for me, I've put OTHERS' needs before my own.... I've taken 'responsibilities' WITHOUT benefit or BARELY any pay to myself. I had NO one watching over me, mentoring. Now in the day of need, I've been feeling sooo depleted. I'm taking the care "in myself" right now to stand-up and SAY that this has gone on with me, and it goes on for women (probably also men) who were 'used' ---

Now, I look at all THIS as a chance for my "new life"..... I want to be an encouragement to OTHERS who feel like this. We get AWAY from the 'labels' we have been given.... We peel those away, and LOOK at the "real" worth inside.

In my case, and with Lexxi, we are within the ZONES of having our Second Saturn Returns. Astrology is a TOOL....

The Second Saturn-Return is a Chance for a "Second Beginning." The Universe has "timing" for everything. There's a "reason" for injecting some special 'moments' in life, where the individuals or groups can get their lives back on the track.

Adversity in Life may have derailed us from Soul Purpose..... But there are 'moments' like THESE, in the Heavens now, where The Guiding Forces can reach over and apply their Hand to Make UP-Right the things that may have become 'off track'....

The Sun's Magnetic Fields do a REVERSAL.... And now it's time for REVERSALs in our own lives to correct those things that were made so 'crooked' in our lives ....... To Make Straight Paths..... (My private soul gives glory to God! The Way-Maker)

And so, to My Lady Lexxi........ Here's to you and to me, and to all others who want to Believe ......