High-velocity solar winds from a “hole” in the solar atmosphere will hit Earth’s magnetic field on Wednesday, August 3, triggering a minor G-1 geomagnetic storm.
Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) made the forecast after observing that “gaseous material was flowing through a southern hole in the solar atmosphere.” According to spaceweather.com.
Coronal holes are areas in the sun’s upper atmosphere where our star’s electrified gas (or plasma) is cooler and less dense. Such holes are also Magnetic field lines teleport into space instead of returning within themselves. This allows solar material to explode in a flood moving at 1.8 million miles per hour (2.9 million kilometers per hour). discovery hall, and the science museum in San Francisco.
Related: Ancient solar storm ripped Earth apart in wrong part of solar cycle – and scientists are worried
On planets with strong magnetic fields like ours, this barrage of solar debris gets absorbed and triggers geomagnetic storms. During these storms, Earth’s magnetic field It is slightly compressed by waves of high-energy particles. These particles filter down magnetic field lines near the poles and activate molecules in the atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of light, creating colorful auroras. northern Lights.
The storm produced by this debris will be weak. As a G1 geomagnetic storm, it has the potential to cause minor fluctuations in power grids and affect some satellite functions, including mobile devices and GPS systems. It will also bring the aurora as: as far south as Michigan and Maine.
More extreme geomagnetic storms can disrupt our planet’s magnetic field strong enough to send out. satellites falling to earthLive Science had previously reported, and scientists have warned that even extreme geomagnetic storms can occur. paralyze the internet. rashes from the sun or coronal mass ejections (CMEs) typically take 15 to 18 hours to reach Earth. Space Weather Forecast Center.
This storm comes as the sun enters its most active phase of the roughly 11-year solar cycle.
Astronomers have known since 1775 that solar activity rises and falls in cycles, but recently the sun has become more active than expected and sunspot appearances have nearly doubled. NOAA. Scientists predict that the sun’s activity will increase steadily over the next few years, reaching an overall maximum in 2025 before decreasing again. An article published in the journal on July 20 Astronomy and Astrophysics He proposed a new model for the sun’s activity by individually counting the sunspots in each hemisphere—a method that the paper’s researchers claim could be used to make more accurate solar forecasts.
Scientists think the largest solar storm ever witnessed in contemporary history was the Carrington Event of 1859, which released roughly the same energy as 10 billion 1-megaton atomic bombs. After hitting Earth, the powerful stream of solar particles fried telegraph systems all over the world, causing the auroras to shine brighter than the light of the hail. moon To appear as far south as the Caribbean. Scientists warn that if a similar event occurred today, it would cause trillions of dollars in damage and trigger widespread power outages, just like the solar storm in 1989 that unleashed a billion-ton gas cloud and caused a power outage across the entire Canadian province. Quebec, NASA reported.
Originally published on Live Science.
