On Sunday, August 16, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spotted a powerful ray of sunshine erupts from the surface of the sun. The slow motion created a shock wave through the atmosphere of our yellow dwarf star – and a small ripple to the Earth’s magnetic field.
According to prediction models made by NOAA, the coronal mass emission of the sun is not exactly went in the direction of the earth, but it could graze the magnetic field of our planet. It is predicted to hit the Earth’s magnetic field on Thursday, August 20, and it is possible that small geomagnetic storms and aurorae with high latitudes will result.
So, how will that affect us here on Earth – and should we be afraid of a possible solar storm? Despite warnings that we will be “hit”, science is in our favor.
What are coronal mass ejections?
Space water is controlled by the sun’s rays that are emitted into outer space.
The sun is formed periodically boiling hot plasma, in the form of solar flames and solar wind, over the solar system. These emissions cause magnetic storms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, which can have major effects on the power grids, satellites, and surrounding spacecraft and astronauts.
Solar activity depends for the most part on the magnetic field of the sun. The magnetic field of the sun goes through a periodic cycle in which the south and north poles essentially change spots, and it takes another 11 years for them to change back.
The centerpiece of the solar cycle is when things really pick up, and activity increase means more flareups of sunshine and outflow of radiation from our host star. In turn, as this solar cycle winds, the Sun becomes less active.
Coronal mass ejections are very energetic eruptions of the Sun and the main source of major events for space water.
In essence, they are giant bubbles of gas and magnetic flux released from the sun with up to a billion tons of charged particles, traveling at high speeds that can reach several million miles per hour. These clouds, and the shock waves they cause, can sometimes reach Earth and cause geomagnetic storms.
Geomagnetic storms, in the meantime, there are major disturbances of the Earth’s magnetosphere – the space surrounding our planet where charged particles are affected by its magnetic field.
The storms sometimes result in beautiful aurora, but can also cause disturbances in navigation systems and power grids.
How bad is the upcoming geomagnetic storm? – The issue of coronal mass in question resulted in a B1 class sunflower, which is rather weak relative to explosive torches. That is also the reason why it takes several days for the emission to reach the direction of the earth – it may take less than a day for a very powerful solar flood to reach us.
As a result, NOAA predicts that the resulting geomagnetic storm will be in a G1 category as a minor storm. Less geomagnetic storms can have very weak effects on power grids and satellite actions, or they can have no effect at all.
Ultimately, these storms have no real effect on us on Earth, nor will they cause any restriction of Earth’s magnetic field.
Instead, observing solar flares and the shock waves they create in the sun’s atmosphere teaches us more about our escaping star and its life cycle, of which scientists are still curious.
