A massive solar flare which erupted from the surface of the sun on Tuesday is nothing to worry about, says NASA. Although the flare's coronal mass ejection or CME was spectacular, in NASA's words, the accompanying radiation storm fell at the lower end of the scale, with an S1 or minor rating on the five point scale with five being the strongest rating. Indeed the flare itself managed only an M2 or medium rating. The CME was not directed right at Earth, but should still have an effect on our planet's magnetic field. The CME consists of a magnetic field and plasma. To ground-based observers, that's you and me, the only observable effect is likely to be a brighter aurora borealis in the north and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere, if we happen to be at a high latitude. The increase in solar energetic particles funneled along the lines of the Earth's magnetic field toward the magnetic North and South Poles cause the northern and southern skies to light up as the charged solar wind particles pushed ahead of the CME itself strike atoms in our atmosphere. [ yahoo ]
The Space Weather Prediction Center says that when the geomagnetic storm arrives tomorrow, it should be a G1 (minor) event, and that although the possibility of "heightened radiation storm activity exists," no effects worse than an S2 radiation storm should be felt. Worst Case Effects of the Solar Flare's CME According to SWPC guidelines G1 geomagnetic storm may cause weak fluctuations in the power grid, a minor impact on satellite operations, and typically results in an aurora borealis visible as far south as Maine and Michigan. An S2 radiation storm would be expected to cause minor interference with High Frequency (HF) radio signals such as that used by air traffic flying in the higher latitudes. Passengers and crew aboard these high latitude flights may experience a slightly higher level of radiation than normal. By the Numbers * The June 7 solar flare erupted from the sunspot complex called 1226-1227. * NASA estimates that the CME is traveling at a speed of 1400 km/ second, that's a little over 3,131,000 miles per hour. * The distance between the Earth and the Sun is roughly 93 million miles. At 1400 km/ second it would take roughly 29.7 hours to reach Earth, assuming a constant velocity. * Minor radiation storm conditions from the flare may impact Earth beginning at approximately 8:00 a.m. ET on Thursday and may last through June 10th, according to the latest update from the Space Weather Prediction Service. * The heightened aurora borealis will extend from the CME's arrival until it has passed, but will be visually washed out by the light of day even though the particles are still impacting the atmosphere. * The aurora's color depends upon its height. Those closer to the ground tend to be green while very high auroras may be red or purple. * The aurora that we see is between 50 and 200 miles above the Earth's surface. |
