https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13402759/Severe-solar-storm-watch-alert-NOAA.html
A rare and powerful solar storm may occur in outer space today which could wreak havoc on earth, officials have warned – the first in nearly 20 years if it happens.
At least five streams of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are heading toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday into the weekend.
This is the first such alert aired since 2005 when Earth was hit with the highest dose of radiation in a half-century.
This time around, the ‘unusual event’ could disrupt electronic devices like GPS and parts of power grids, NOAA said – while citing how it may also drape a huge portion of the country, as far south as Alabama, in colorful natural lights.
The CMEs exploded from a massive sunspot, an area on the sun that is cooler than the surface, on May 8 – paving the way for Thursday’s alert.
In it, officials explained how the expulsions of matter and magnetic field from the celestial body’s atmosphere could cause problems for millions of earthlings as soon as noon ET Friday.
A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field – often caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Pictured, a CME from the sun, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite on June 17, 2015
The emergency alert read: ‘NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) – a division of the National Weather Service – is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that began on May 8’. Sunspots and flares spotted by scientists are seen here
WHAT IS A SOLAR STORM?
A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by our planet’s magnetic field.
A solar storm occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth
Earth’s magnetosphere is created by our magnetic field and protects us from most particles the sun emits.
But when a CME or high-speed stream arrives at Earth it buffets the magnetosphere.
If the arriving solar magnetic field is directed southward it interacts strongly with the oppositely oriented magnetic field of the Earth.
The Earth’s magnetic field is then peeled open like an onion allowing energetic solar wind particles to stream down the field lines to hit the atmosphere over the poles.
‘NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) – a division of the National Weather Service – is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8,’ the emergency alert read.
‘Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday.
‘Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,’ it went on, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off.
‘A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am ET,’ it read.
‘At least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed. SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA’s space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm.’
CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona, which cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.
A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field.
And the Friday storm has been rated ‘G4’ (on a scale of one to five), making it a ‘severe’ storm.’
‘Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface,’ the statement went on, stating how the storm could ‘potentially [disrupt] communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.’
Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost. The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth’s magnetic field
‘Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,’ officials, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off
