In recent days there have been several CME (coronal mass ejection) eruptions coming from our star, but scientists have also observed the presence of a coronal hole (structure similar to a black hole), which is the central disk.
Its impact is expected on Thursday
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) shows that a Class G1 is expected to impact our planet on both Thursday and Friday of this week. And it is that the data shows that a crack has opened in the Earth’s magnetic field, giving way to solar winds that will enter the magnetosphere of our planet, a region that protects us from harmful solar and cosmic particles.
The warning comes from a NASA forecast model applied by the scientist Tamitha Skov, who has described this flare phenomenon as a snake-shaped filament coming from the Sun. The scientist herself shared this forecast last Saturday through her profile from Twitter.
Impact
The main consequences that the impact of this “direct hit” could have are interference with radio and GPS signals. In addition to weakening the electrical grid and interfering with satellite operations, NOAA warns that this type of system will greatly affect migratory animals. Another effect caused by these solar storms is the appearance of beautiful auroras.
Interference in the propagation of radio waves could occur if this radiation has enough energy to heat and distort the ionosphere, which is that part of the Earth’s atmosphere that is permanently ionized by the photoionization of solar radiation. In other words, in the worst case scenario, a massive solar storm of these characteristics could put our entire communications network out of service. Internet outages will be the least of our worries, experts say. (In fact, remember that the last time a group of about 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites were brought down by the effects of a solar storm).
“The magnetic orientation of this solar storm is going to be difficult to predict. G2 (possibly G3) level conditions may occur if this storm’s magnetic field is oriented south,” NASA scientists explained in another tweet.
These eruptions are capable of releasing 100,000 times more energy than all the power plants on Earth can generate in a year , experts say.
According to experts, it is likely that we will see more storms of this type due to the current cycle of the Sun. Therefore, they are not rare events, since we are at the moment of greatest activity within the solar cycle of 11 years . The cycle of increased activity began at the end of 2019. These solar storms are quite common, and scientists evaluate the number of sunspots to quantify how solar activity is or will be soon. Sunspots are dark regions of the Sun where the region is cooler than other parts of the surface. Solar flares originate near these dark areas of the star.
Reference: NOAA/NASA
