# Eruption on the sun **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063 "2002-07-02T17:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/1 "2002-07-02T17:43:43Z")
I heard on the news today there was a huge eruption on the sun yesterday morning. My question has to do with one scientist saying that this eruption was not aimed at the Earth, but if it was it could possibly damage Earth’s magnetosphere. What exactly does that mean? And what would happen if it was damaged? ---
**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/2 "2002-07-02T23:16:43Z")
Not one of you can explain the Earth’s magnetosphere, what is is/does, and what would happen if it were damaged??? Uh,…Unca Cecil? ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/3 "2002-07-02T23:34:03Z")
I don’t believe they said it would actually _damage_ the Earth’s magnetosphere but it would definitely affect it. Solar flares frequently interfere with radio/satellite communication by ionizing the atmosphere which prevents radio waves from moving around. If it’s a bad flare, it can even cause blackouts due to magnetic induction on power lines. Most of these problems are just temporary though. On the plus side, it makes the Aurora Borealis extra active. The magnetosphere is defined [here](http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Am/magnetosphere) ---
**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/4 "2002-07-03T00:16:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RadioWave \* > \*\*Most of these problems are just temporary though. > \*\* Thanks for the answer [b[RadioWave\*\* Now, my next question is, what happens if the problems aren’t temporary? Could we have some real serious problems here on Earth due to activity on the sun? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/5 "2002-07-03T01:18:56Z")
Hmm, are we sure that it couldn’t cause some serious problems here? The bit I saw said that the eruption was some 200+ million miles “high” (note that the Earth is a mere 96 million miles from the sun) and was something like 100,000 degrees. Even if that’s Kelvin, that’s still plenty hot. I’m thinking BBQ’d Earth. Paging **BadAstonomer** … ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/6 "2002-07-03T01:20:53Z")
err, make that **BadAstronomer** … (Sorry, **BA**.) ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/7 "2002-07-03T01:51:28Z")
The article I accessed, dated today, describes a solar prominence over two hundred and fifty **thousand** miles in length. While still larger than Earth, it is considerably smaller than your estimate. Solar eruptions send charged particles out into space. These ions interact with the magnetic field of both the sun, and earth. In the unlikely case where a solar prominence was strong enough, lasted long enough, and was directed accurately enough, it could cause the Earth’s Magnetosphere to collapse entirely. That would allow cosmic radiation, and ultraviolet radiation to reach the ground at greatly increased levels. It could conceivably kill, although it would more probably raise cancer rates, and change photosynthesis patterns. Serious, but not quite the searing death ray your post seems to expect. ## Tris “What have you done to that cat? It looks half dead!” ~ Mrs. Erwin Schrodinger ~ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/8 "2002-07-03T01:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Serious, but not quite the searing death ray your post seems to expect. Bummer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/9 "2002-07-03T05:37:13Z")
If you want to see a picture of the event, go [here](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2081000/2081910.stm). ---
**Author:** ![JS\_Princeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JS\_Princeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JS_Princeton)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/10 "2002-07-03T17:50:29Z")
These eruptions and prominences happen all the time, that is, more frequently than you probably realize. A major storm occurs a couple of times a year on average. The media loves to get all excited about them, but they’re mostly just a pain for satellites, radio transmissions, etc. Also, they make pretty arourae. There is no danger of “permanent” damage barring some highly unusual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/11 "2002-07-03T20:28:53Z")
You can get permanent damage to some man-made technology (things like transformers burning out, and such) in a bad storm, but of course, that’s only “permanent” until the guy with the hard hat and rubber gloves goes out and fixes it. I think that the biggest example of this was a blackout across most of Quebec for a few days during the 1990 maximum. As for the temperature of these events, temperature does not equal heat. The corona of the Sun, for instance, is over a million Kelvin, but were you trapped in it, you’d freeze to death. High temperature basically means that each individual particle has a lot of energy, but the solar corona (and coronal mass ejections) are extremely low density. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eruption-on-the-sun/117063/12 "2002-07-03T20:29:44Z")
As many have pointed out, yes, these happen all the time. It’s possible, though unlikely, that one could be so large it could actually affect us seriously. You also have to distinguish between flares and coronal mass ejections (you can do so [here](http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/cmes.htm)). At least one satellite is known to have been damaged in a CME, and one CME in the 1980s caused a widespread blackout in the Quebec. I suppose one could collapse the Earth’s magnetosphere, but it would take a pretty big one; I suspect bigger than have ever been seen. However, pardon the pun, this isn’t really my field. [The Stanford Solar Center](http://solar-center.stanford.edu/FAQ/faq.html) has a list of FAQs, one of which is about flares affecting the Earth (none have, they say). [Check the SOHO page](http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/explore/) for more solar info too.