Solar storm coming to us

 

The massive solar storm, which is moving towards the Earth at a speed of 1.6 million kilometres per hour, is expected to hit the Earth today, due to which there may be a power failure around the globe, according to spaceweather.com.

Due to this, wind speeds could reach 500 km/s, triggering a geomagnetic storm and high latitude auroras.     

THE SOLAR WIND IS COMING: Later today, a high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. Flowing from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere, wind speeds could top 500 km/s. Full-fledged geomagnetic storms are unlikely, but lesser geomagnetic unrest could spark high latitude auroras," spaceweather.com informed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reportedly classified the solar storm as G-1 or 'minor'.

The solar flare is expected to hit satellites operating in the Earth's upper atmosphere, which might impact GPS navigation, mobile phone signals and satellite TV. The flares also have the potential of affecting power grids in some parts of the world.

A major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere, which occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth, is known as a geomagnetic storm. The storm is the result of major changes in the currents, plasmas produced by solar winds, as per the NOAA.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm ever recorded resulted in the 1859 Carrington Event, when telegraph lines electrified, zapping operators and setting offices ablaze in North America and Europe.

To create a geomagnetic storm, a solar wind has to sustain high speeds for a long period of time, which transfers the energy of the wind into Earth's magnetic field.

The fierce and largest storms that result from these situations are associated with solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) where billions of tons of plasma from the Sun are hurtled towards planets that also reach Earth. While coronal mass ejections take days to arrive at Earth, some have been observed to arrive within 15-18 hours of being ejected from the Sun.