Earth today is going to witness a significant event. National Aeronautical Space Agency, on 03rd July 2021, reported that a giant solar flare or otherwise known as the solar storm has erupted from the Sun. And that solar storm is travelling at a speed of 16 lakh kmph towards the Earth.
The storm has originated from the Sun’s atmosphere. A hole has opened up in the Sun’s atmosphere and is erupting a stream of solar wind in Earth’s direction. It would have a significant impact on the region of space dominated by the Earth’s magnetic field. It will hit the Earth’s atmosphere on 12th July 2021.
What is Solar Storm?
Atmospheric effects felt on Earth from certain events that occur on the Sun. Solar storms are powerful bursts of radiation.
These events can spread outward from across the Sun’s heliosphere to affect the entire solar system. They are a natural part of the Sun’s 11-year cycle and can last minutes to hours on the Sun’s surface.
What causes solar storms?
Solar storms occur when the Sun emits huge bursts of energy in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These phenomena send a flow of electrical charges and magnetic fields toward the Earth at a speed of about three million miles per hour.
When a solar storm strikes the Earth, it often produces a dazzling northern lights display in parts of the atmosphere that can be view in areas close to the Arctic Circle.
What are solar flares and coronal mass ejections?
Solar storms begin with a large explosion in the Sun known as solar flares. It can be as powerful as billions of atomic bombs.
Solar flares usually followed by the release of vast streams of charged plasma travelling at millions of miles per hour. These currents are called coronal mass ejections or CMEs. When CMEs collide with Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms that disrupt satellites and electrical power grids.
Are solar storms dangerous to living organisms?
Solar storms produce high energy particles and radiation that are dangerous to live organisms. However, at the surface of the Earth, we are well protected from the effects of solar storms and other solar activity by the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.
Without this protection, life on Earth would be soaked in high-energy particles that could cause radiation poisoning, potentially in fatal doses.
Are solar storms dangerous to technologies?
Our technology, however, is not so lucky. Solar storms can be dangerous to our technologies. It causes a temporary disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field. The storm on the Sun causes a storm on the Earth, known as a geomagnetic storm.
However, they disturb the Earth’s ionosphere, which in turn disturbs some radio communications, telecommunications and navigation systems.
Credits: NASA
Along with energetic ultraviolet radiation, they heat the Earth’s outer atmosphere, causing it to expand. This increases pressure on Earth-orbiting satellites, reducing their lifetime in orbit.
Such events can also damage satellites or shut down satellites (temporarily or permanently), damage or disturb high-flying aeroplanes, and potentially damage power grids causing widespread blackouts.
What were the strongest solar storms in the history of our solar system?
In 1859, one of the strongest solar storms in recorded history struck Earth called The Carrington Event. The storm was quite strong. It is documented for the first time that solar flare has affected our planet. It caused a noticeable disturbance in the global telecommunications network of the day in the Caribbean. Telegraph operators received a minor electric shock. In addition, telegraph equipment caught fire.
Another massive storm hit the Earth in 1921. It was called a geomagnetic storm and was known as the largest solar storm in the 20th century. It was due to unusual large coronal mass ejection that damaged various electrical systems, signal systems and fused wires.
Another major solar storm hit the Earth in 1972. It completely knocked out long-distance phone communications. It is also believed that some sea mines exploded and may have been responsible for affecting military operations in Vietnam.
In 1989, another major solar storm hit the Earth. This caused a complete blackout in a portion of Canada. There was an electric grid failure in Canada. Also damaged various electrical power transmissions of a power station in Canada and damaged other power transformers.
In 2000, another solar flare struck Earth, knocking out satellites. Similar incidents also recorded in 2003, 2006 and 2011.
Conclusion
Storms on the Sun are a natural occurrence. They have been happening for billions of years. They are not dangerous to our human bodies or other living organisms on Earth’s surface. But they can affect some earthly technologies, such as power grids and satellites in orbit around Earth.