"The Korvalis Plasma Flare"

[Guest Sar'vek t'Jhiin]

In spite of all the battlefield science she'd conducted, her analyses ofradiation that made traveling between other universes possible, her care in safeguarding the ship from the venom of dangerous lizards (all right, that one was only debatably successful), and assorted tactical-science studies, Sar'vek had to place her study of the Korvalis Flare at the top of her "best science opportunities" list. Aesthetically, the flare was stunning. It had the colors of an aurora effect and more than the usual share of a solar flare's ferocity. Never had t'Jhiin seen such a sight.

 

Her analyses were nearly complete, the sensors having nearly overloaded at the amount of data coming in. Her notes were sketchy, as she knew they'd be: she'd let her machines record the data while she observed. And there was na thing wrong with that. H'nah she could place scientific data to her memories of the various phases of the flare, and placed together, they should reveal a clear picture of events.

 

Downloading the visual logs from tr'S'bien's records, Sar'vek smiled to herself, happy to view the phenomenon again. Secretly, she wished that she could use the viewscreen for replay, but was na quite bold enough to request the forward viewer as Science's personal largescreen t'Elevision.

 

Korvalis Solar Flare

Recorded by RES Talon

0808.14

 

Talon arrived several hours before the flare eruption, resulting in a full array of base readings of the star. Korvalis is an F-II, blue-white star fueled largely by hydrogen. There are no inhabited planets in the system; no effects on the Talon crew have been observed. Communications were, remarkably, most unaffected by the event; the worst effects were light interference in the low frequencies.

 

The flare began suddenly, bursting into a full spectrum of color as the first pocket of gases ignited. The high plasma content in this first plume was greater than any recorded at Korvalis before: this heralded similar plasma content throughout the display. The immediate, extreme variation in color was caused by the emergence of different metron gas isotopes and their exposure to the plasma.

 

Both the magnitude and "height" of the flare increased after this first metron pocket was exhausted. Radiation levels also increased. The majority registered on sensors was made up of gamma and delta radiation. However, polaric and epsilon radiation was also recorded. This was the first instance noted of the Korvalis flare producing epsilon rays. This sort of activity increased several times over the course of the event.

 

The display ended with a sudden burst of colors brought about by an abundance of gases unearthed from low in the star. It did not stop suddenly; rather, it tapered off in a slow decline as the plasma and gases were exhausted.

 

Talon was lucky in that this is one of the greatest records of the phenomenon recorded. It is unknown whether the demonstration here sets the stage for a new norm, or if this was indeed particularly exceptional. Further study, if possible, is recommended upon the next emergence of the flare.