Post by stormturmoil on Feb 12, 2007 21:28:29 GMT
The Star known officially as St Martius Beacon, or more commonly by locals as 'Beacon', 'Flarepoint', or 'The Black Spot' (this last due to the Star's appearance when viewed through the ubiquitous polarizing Flare Goggles worn by inhabitants of the star's major habitable planetary body) has unsurprisingly undergone relatively intense study due to it's dual nature as both a major feature of an important planetary system and at the same time a major navigational hazard.
The Star itself is an orange dwarf with a mass marginally smaller than Sol, and is consequently somewhat cooler and less energetic in absolute terms than the more commonly found G0 yellow dwarfs usually favoured for human habitation, however, this absolute is misleading, since St Martius Beacon is, like certain other stars of it's class, a variable star, more commonly known as a 'Flare star'. In this case, the flare activity that makes it so hazardous is also responsible for many of the anomalies that have made it's major habitable planetary body so useful to the Imperium since it's discovery (or rather re-discovery).
The Flare activity divides into two major categories: Cyclic Flares, and sporadic, or 'Storm' Flares. Of the two, Cyclic Flares are the more predictable, following a well recorded 17 week cycle of activity culminating in major radiation bursts, extreme prominences and Coronal Mass Ejections.
These 'Cyclic' Flares are produced by a series of MagnetoHydroDynamic plasma currents formed along lines of equipotential magnetic flux within the star's corona and chromosphere. During the dormant stage of the cycle, plasma flows along lines of magnetic force, and in doing so, generates electromotive force that volatilizes the plasma that surrounds the field lines, causing a gradual increase in electrical and magnetic potential.
Once a critical density of energy has been accumulated along the magnetic field lines, the over abundance of magnetic and electrical charge causes the lines of magnetic force to literally tear themselves apart and recombine in new patterns, accompanied by a huge release of all the energy accumulated in a huge corona wide magnetic shock wave. This releases electromagnetic radiation and propels charged particles out of the corona as Coronal Mass Ejections.
Once this happens, the energy level within the newly established magnetic field drops rapidly as energy is bled away as electromagnetic output. As a result, Cyclic flares are very powerful in terms of effect, but predictable, and relatively short lived.
Sporadic or 'Storm' Flares are another matter, however, and are generated solely by interactions of charged particles within the outer corona. As a result, they occur unpredictably, and can persist for some time, but have only a fraction of the energy of a Cyclic Flare.
In both cases, the possibility of these Flares is a Major hazard to shipping within the system, and has also had major impact on the Geology and ecology of the Star's major habitable Planetary body.
Since I've not received a definite yay or nay on the Flare Star idea I proposed, I decided to write up a little tourist information on it. Hopefully, this will offer a clearer picture of what I had in mind so people can get a better feel for if they want to keep it or not...
The Star itself is an orange dwarf with a mass marginally smaller than Sol, and is consequently somewhat cooler and less energetic in absolute terms than the more commonly found G0 yellow dwarfs usually favoured for human habitation, however, this absolute is misleading, since St Martius Beacon is, like certain other stars of it's class, a variable star, more commonly known as a 'Flare star'. In this case, the flare activity that makes it so hazardous is also responsible for many of the anomalies that have made it's major habitable planetary body so useful to the Imperium since it's discovery (or rather re-discovery).
The Flare activity divides into two major categories: Cyclic Flares, and sporadic, or 'Storm' Flares. Of the two, Cyclic Flares are the more predictable, following a well recorded 17 week cycle of activity culminating in major radiation bursts, extreme prominences and Coronal Mass Ejections.
These 'Cyclic' Flares are produced by a series of MagnetoHydroDynamic plasma currents formed along lines of equipotential magnetic flux within the star's corona and chromosphere. During the dormant stage of the cycle, plasma flows along lines of magnetic force, and in doing so, generates electromotive force that volatilizes the plasma that surrounds the field lines, causing a gradual increase in electrical and magnetic potential.
Once a critical density of energy has been accumulated along the magnetic field lines, the over abundance of magnetic and electrical charge causes the lines of magnetic force to literally tear themselves apart and recombine in new patterns, accompanied by a huge release of all the energy accumulated in a huge corona wide magnetic shock wave. This releases electromagnetic radiation and propels charged particles out of the corona as Coronal Mass Ejections.
Once this happens, the energy level within the newly established magnetic field drops rapidly as energy is bled away as electromagnetic output. As a result, Cyclic flares are very powerful in terms of effect, but predictable, and relatively short lived.
Sporadic or 'Storm' Flares are another matter, however, and are generated solely by interactions of charged particles within the outer corona. As a result, they occur unpredictably, and can persist for some time, but have only a fraction of the energy of a Cyclic Flare.
In both cases, the possibility of these Flares is a Major hazard to shipping within the system, and has also had major impact on the Geology and ecology of the Star's major habitable Planetary body.
Since I've not received a definite yay or nay on the Flare Star idea I proposed, I decided to write up a little tourist information on it. Hopefully, this will offer a clearer picture of what I had in mind so people can get a better feel for if they want to keep it or not...