2024-03-25 05:37:00
Space weather forecasters issued geomagnetic storm alert until this Monday, which may cause alterations in the Earth’s magnetic field. The plasma explosion of the solar flare could interfere with radio transmissions on Earth and could create new places to observe the polar lights.
As reported Associated Press, there is no reason to worry due to the geomagnetic storm, since although could disrupt high frequency radio transmissionssuch as those on airplanes trying to communicate with distant traffic control towers, most commercial airplanes can use a satellite transmission as a backup.
Jonathan Lashforecaster at the Space Weather Prediction Center of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationwhere the alert was issued last Saturday, said that in this context satellite operators could have trouble tracking their spacecraft, “and power grids could also see some ‘induced current’ in their linesalthough nothing they can’t handle.”
“For the general public, if there are clear skies at night and there are At higher latitudes, this would be a great opportunity to see the skies light up“said Lash. According to the Geographic Institute of Spain, polar auroras are the “most pleasant manifestations” of geomagnetic storms and are produced when solar particles interact with the Earth’s atmosphere.
Why geomagnetic storms occur
According to what is detailed by AP, Every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field changes position, which means that its north and south poles change positions. This is known as the “solar cycle.” “Solar activity changes during that cycle and It is now near its most active point, called solar maximum”, the agency elaborated.
Forecaster Jonathan Lash explained that during solar maximum “geomagnetic storms of the type that arrived on Sunday They can hit the Earth several times a year”. On the other hand, during solar minimum, a few years can pass between storms.
Furthermore, although geomagnetic storms have a global characterstarting simultaneously at all points on Earth, the amplitudes with which storms are observed in different places are different, being greater the higher the latitudes.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, using its scale from G1 to G5, classifies the intensity of these storms, with G5 being their maximum expression. This weekend’s solar storm, although expected to be moderate, is a severe geomagnetic storm, classified as G4.
The geomagnetic storm can be caused by a wave of solar wind shock or coronal mass ejection that interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field. Coronal mass ejection is a powerful ejection of plasma and magnetic material from the Sun, which can reach Earth in just 15 to 18 hours. The solar wind, for its part, is a current of charged particles released from the Sun’s upper atmosphere in the form of plasma.
Recently, In December 2023, a NASA telescope captured the largest solar flare in years, which temporarily disrupted radio communications on Earth. As it is a solar storm of strong power and a higher speed than previous ones, experts came to classify it as “cannibalistic.”
ML / ED
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