On Thursday, October 28, a radiation explosion took place on the surface of the sun, followed by a CME of plasma and magnetic fields. According to the US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), CME has escaped from the sun at a speed of about 973km/s, and is expected to land on Earth later this week. The arrival of the CME is expected to trigger a “strong G3″ geomagnetic storm (solar storm). As CME approaches Earth, NOAA’s DSCOVER satellite will be among the first spacecraft to detect changes in the solar wind,” SWPC said. real-time and SWPC will issue the appropriate warning”.
While they do not pose a direct danger to life on Earth – our atmosphere and magnetic fields protect us – solar storms are especially dangerous for technological devices. Space weather phenomena are ranked based on their intensity on a scale from G1 (smallest) to G5 (greatest). A hurricane of Category G5 has the potential to wipe out satellites, damage transformers and cause power outages. In 1859, a powerful solar storm occurred (the Carrington Event) that is said to have caused telegraph wires across North America and Europe to spark sparks. According to NASA, it could be the most powerful solar storm to hit the planet in 500 years.
In addition, another powerful storm occurred in May 1921, causing electrical systems throughout New York to short.
The upcoming event is not expected to be so dangerous. The SWPC assures: “This storm is Category G3. They are likely to push the aurora away from normal polar habitats, which, combined with other factors, we can see auroras in the far northeast. , extending to western Washington state”.
It is known that the aurora is caused by charged particles from the sun crashing into the upper layers of the atmosphere. Particles are pulled towards the poles by the planet’s magnetic field. Along the way, these particles collide with gas atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, stimulating them to new energy levels. The atoms then release the excess energy in the form of photons – light.
