solar storm

Large geomagnetic solar storm hits Earth.

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Earlier this week, the sun spat out two long, powerful streams of magnetically charged particles.

The first wave hit the Earth the night of Sept. 11 and caused a moderate “G2” geomagnetic storm, yielding beautiful aurora light shows in Canada, the northern U.S. and Europe. The second, larger stream began hitting the Earth “just before noon EDT” today, according to C. Alex Young, Associate Director for Science in NASA’s Heliophysics Division.

Last night’s light show is nothing compared to the light show scientists are predicting for Friday and Saturday. The space weather forecasting service run by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force predicts that: “The geomagnetic field is expected to be at unsettled to major storm levels on day one (12 Sep), active to severe storm levels on day two (13 Sep) and unsettled to minor storm levels on day three (14 Sep).”

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Aurora map for Sept. 12, 2014
NOAA

 

Both moderate G2 and major G3 storms cause auroras, though a more severe electromagnetic disturbance makes the lights brighter and spread over more of the Earth’s surface. In an email today, Young noted: “the storm level is predicted to increase to G3 level into tomorrow. If the storm reaches G3, aurora could be seen down to areas like Illinois and mid-Atlantic states. G2 is more like Idaho and New York State.”

To see an aurora, find a dark, cloudless area within the “aurora oval” and get away from light pollution. You may see a sky flashing green, blue-violet, or perhaps a rarer red hue. Young told CBS News in a phone call that the light show could last as little as 45 minutes or could go on for hours.

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Aurora taken by JN Hall on September 12, 2014 in Fairbanks, AK, US.
SPACEWEATHER.COM

 

The Earth’s magnetic storms began on Monday in an active sunspot called AR2158. That spot spat out a moderate solar flare, followed by a more extreme one Wednesday.

In a press conference, Thomas Berger, director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said that “sunspot AR2158 is about the size of between 10 and 20 Earths, but appears to be in the process of breaking up.” The huge solar flare may have been “its swan song as it breaks down.”

The particles are not harmful to people on the ground. If the geomagnetic storm is severe, airplanes are rerouted to avoid magnetic disturbances in the polar regions. Electrical and satellite communications systems could be effected, though operators around the world take special precautions to minimize any damage. NOAA expects no major disruptions, though they are monitoring the situation.

Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with ‘force of 100m bombs

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Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.

Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet’s power grid.

Despite its rebuttal, NASA’s been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates – 2012.

Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.

“The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years,” News.com.au quoted astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke as saying.

“A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.

“They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year,” added Reneke.

No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today’s digital-reliant society.

Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA’s Heliophysics division, told Reneke the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning”, causing catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause “1 to 2 trillion dollars in damages to society’s high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery”.

The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.

Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.

They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.

“We know it is coming but we don’t know how bad it is going to be,” Fisher told Reneke.

“Systems will just not work. The flares change the magnetic field on the Earth and it’s rapid, just like a lightning bolt. That’s the solar effect,” he added.