A NASA report on Space weather monitor says that a terrific solar flare can be expected in May 2013 that is likely to strike the earth.With our lives becoming more dependent on electronic gadgets and satellite aided technologies, a terrible solar storm could damage these gadgets and paralyse our lives - though temporarily. But the loss through such damage could be too phenomenal that we have to make correctives to lessen the damage.
This 'prediction' by NASA is more or less like what we say from astrology. Astrology is a space weather monitoring technique and it is primarily concerned about how the 'space weather' could affect our lives.
The foremost thing that strikes me on reading the report (produced at the end of this post) is that the period coincides with what we call as Agni nakshathra days or dog days. Every year when the sun crosses the two stars, bharani and krittika, lorded by Yama and Agni, there will be intense heat felt on the earth. The northern hemisphere receives direct sun rays during this time. This time starts from the day the sun crosses Bharani 3rd pada and moves through Krittikai (lorded by Agni) and ends with the 1st pada of Rohini.This happens in the month of May every year. This period will be intensely hot.This is from astrological perspective. Now with lot of scientific inputs coming, we have to see if this period also marks intense activity on the solar surface.
There have been times in the past when solar flares had brushed past the earth. But the impact had been felt as heat waves in those occasions. Today with more gadgets dominating our lives, the vulnerability to a solar flare means more than just a heat wave. Astrologically speaking this means that a vulnerability to moon must be there in the sky map designed for the time of solar flares.
When I checked the sky maps for the intense solar flares of the past, I can see a pattern. The flares have occurred either during agni nakshathra days or when the sun and or mars (the two fiery planets) were in fiery signs. Additionally the inner planets namely Mercury and Venus were in the same sign with the sun.
For instance in the worst ever recorded instance of solar flare (Sep 1, 1859), the focus was in Leo, a fiery sign whose lord is the Sun itself. Sun was present in Leo along with Venus, Mercury and Mars.
In Dec 5, 2006 solar flare also a similar planetary combination was present in the Martian sign of Scorpio.
In March 13, 1989 solar flare, a similar combination occurred in Aquarius (opposite to Leo) with Mars missing in this combination, but present in Taurus transiting the star of Agni, Krittika.
In August 4, 1972, a similar combination occurred in Cancer with Venus trailing behind in Gemini.
It is also seen that in the worst kind of solar flares, the combination of planets is focused in Martian and solar signs and stars (Aries, Scorpio and Leo and among stars - Krittika).
Whenever moon is left 'alone' as in Kema druma yoga without any planet accompanying it, human suffering had been there, caused by the damage to gadgets and satellite equipments. Applying these parameters to May 2013 solar flare predicted by NASA, we can see a similar combination occurring in the month of May.
Particularly on May 15th, 16th and 17th the moon will be alone when the Sun crosses the fiery star of Krittika (Pleiades). Mars will be closely behind though it will be in Aries and the sun with others will be there in Taurus. If the sun belches out on any of these 3 days, the damage to equipments will be certain. The moon continues its solitary sojourn for the next 3 days also with the sun still continuing its transit in the agni star. So the days from 15th to 20th of May 2013 do show vulnerability to heat and magnetic storms from the sun.
From other perspectives, that month also looks vulnerable for natural calamities such as earthquakes and internal turmoil in India.
The places to be affected by the solar flare can be gauged by using Varahamihira's wisdom. Yes, Varahamihira and ancient Indian sages have spoken about solar flares, sun spots and such disasters from space. The part of earth affected by that will be gauged from the part of the sun from which the flare emerges or where the sun spots are seen. Once NASA comes out with more details, we will be apply Varahamihira's guidelines to locate the places likely to bear the brunt of damage to gadgets.
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From
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/04jun_swef/
As the Sun Awakens, NASA Keeps a Wary Eye on Space Weather
June 4, 2010: Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that's new to human history. To make preparations, authorities in Washington DC are holding a meeting: The Space Weather Enterprise Forum at the National Press Club on June 8th.
Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, explains what it's all about:
"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."
The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts." It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.
Much of the damage can be mitigated if managers know a storm is coming. Putting satellites in 'safe mode' and disconnecting transformers can protect these assets from damaging electrical surges. Preventative action, however, requires accurate forecasting—a job that has been assigned to NOAA.
"Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we're making rapid progress," says Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Bogdan sees the collaboration between NASA and NOAA as key. "NASA's fleet of heliophysics research spacecraft provides us with up-to-the-minute information about what's happening on the sun. They are an important complement to our own GOES and POES satellites, which focus more on the near-Earth environment."
Among dozens of NASA spacecraft, he notes three of special significance: STEREO, SDO and ACE.
STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is a pair of spacecraft stationed on opposite sides of the sun with a combined view of 90% of the stellar surface. In the past, active sunspots could hide out on the sun's farside, invisible from Earth, and then suddenly emerge over the limb spitting flares and CMEs. STEREO makes such surprise attacks impossible.
SDO (the Solar Dynamics Observatory) is the newest addition to NASA's fleet. Just launched in February, it is able to photograph solar active regions with unprecedented spectral, temporal and spatial resolution. Researchers can now study eruptions in exquisite detail, raising hopes that they will learn how flares work and how to predict them. SDO also monitors the sun's extreme UV output, which controls the response of Earth's atmosphere to solar variability.
Bogdan's favorite NASA satellite, however, is an old one: the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) launched in 1997. "Where would we be without it?" he wonders. ACE is a solar wind monitor. It sits upstream between the sun and Earth, detecting solar wind gusts, billion-ton CMEs, and radiation storms as much as 30 minutes before they hit our planet.
"ACE is our best early warning system," says Bogdan. "It allows us to notify utility and satellite operators when a storm is about to hit."
NASA spacecraft were not originally intended for operational forecasting—"but it turns out that our data have practical economic and civil uses," notes Fisher. "This is a good example of space science supporting modern society."
2010 marks the 4th year in a row that policymakers, researchers, legislators and reporters have gathered in Washington DC to share ideas about space weather. This year, forum organizers plan to sharpen the focus on critical infrastructure protection. The ultimate goal is to improve the nation's ability to prepare, mitigate, and respond to potentially devastating space weather events.
"I believe we're on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather." Fisher concludes. "We take this very seriously indeed."
For more information about the meeting, please visit the Space Weather Enterprise Forum home page at http://www.nswp.gov/swef/swef_2010.html.
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
