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5 posts tagged solar storm
Solar storms can be scary and unpredictable, and can cause major disruptions to Earth’s magnetic field.
And despite all the hoopla, the solar storm of March 6 wrapped around the earth but caused no notable issues or disruptions.
Well, another storm is on its way. On March 8, 2012 at 10:53 PM EST the sun erupted with an M6.3 class flare.
Although less powerful than the March 6 flare, the coronal mass ejection (CME) comes from the same active region that has produced two X class flares and many other M-class flares.
The CME is currently traveling at speeds of over 700 miles per second, and should reach Earth early Sunday morning, March 11.
Earth’s magnetic field will receive a significant jolt early Thursday.
On Tuesday, the sun erupted with an X5.4 flare, the second largest since August 9, 2011.
As we previously reported, X-class flares are big events that can disrupt power grids, airline flights, satellite networks and other electronic communications.
The storm can also paint colorful auroras farther south than normal.
Storms like this start with sun spots, generate solar flares, then give off a coronal mass ejection (CME), which take a couple days to reach Earth. The CMEs impact the planet’s magnetic field.
North American utilities are monitoring for abnormalities on the power grids.
NASA released videos of Tuesday’s ‘space hurricane.’
This afternoon scientists also upgraded the strength of the storm to match one back in 2003, rather than a weaker storm in 2005.
But as scary as the storm sounds, it’s providing stunning displays of auroras across the northern parts of our globe.
The corneal mass ejection did not directly hit Earth, sparing us from major satellite and power grid failures.
However, several passenger carriers redirected flights Tuesday to avoid disruptions in their northern communications including Delta Airlines, Qantas and Air Canada.
Earth is under attack from outer space.
A solar flare occurred late Sunday evening, kicking off the biggest solar radiation storm in more than six years.
Technically speaking, the sun erupted with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME).
The radiation from the storm has been rated ‘strong’ - the lowest level on a 3-tier scale.
So the biggest expected threat from this storm are the massive doses of plasma from the CME which can put electronic signals at risk, including entire electrical grids.
One note of caution: Ejected plasma usually travels 1-2 million miles an hour through space, but this storm’s plasma is rocketing at over 4 million miles per hour.
We’re hoping that sounds scarier than the actual effects. The storm is expected to continue through Wednesday night, so we’ll see.
