Today's Solar Storm Hits Earth, Disrupts Electricity-Satellite
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A solar storm is reported to have hit Earth today and could cause electricity and satellite disruptions |
Netgenz - Technology | A solar storm with a moderate ratio hit Earth today (28/9) and is likely to cause satellite problems to electrical problems. According to the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Federation (NOAA), satellite problems and power grid disturbances can occur in high latitude areas such as Canada, Northern Ireland, and much of Russia.
Read Also: Super Solar Storm Threatens Internet Apocalypse for Months
"The highest storms are predicted to occur on September 28 [with a level of] G2 (moderate), September 29 G1 (minor), September 30, none (below G1)," as noted on the NOAA website. However, this storm is certainly relatively less strong and is in the G2 level of the 5 solar storm ratio levels. NOAA says only solar storms rated G4 and above can cause massive electrical problems. Released on the NOAA website, these 5 solar storm ratios are denoted by units G1 to G5. Problems caused by this storm are said to be disruptive to electrical mechanisms, spacecraft, and other mechanisms.
In addition to causing power and satellite problems, this moderate solar storm makes the aurora visible in several countries. Because it is moderate, therefore the area that can see the aurora occurs in a wider area. Generally, this aurora can only be seen in areas with high latitudes and near the poles. Until the aurora which is generally only seen in the northern hemisphere such as Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Canada.
"The affected sites are particularly at (around the place) 60 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude from the poles," NOAA continued. Meanwhile, for this solar storm, the aurora can also be seen in areas with lower latitudes such as the sky of New York, Wisconsin, and Washington, United States.
Different from Super Solar Storm
This solar storm this time is different from the super solar storm that was originally said to cause an internet apocalypse. Because this solar storm is only moderate. While the Super Solar Storm that can create an internet apocalypse is a storm with a high ratio.
Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, Associate Professor from the University of California, Irvine, United States, explained that the infrastructure currently used in the modern life of Earth's people is not ready to face super solar storms.
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The problem is that this super solar storm could result in an internet apocalypse over several months. So according to him, super solar storms can pose a threat to contemporary human life who depends on the internet. "Our infrastructure is not ready for a large number of solar events. We have the most limited knowledge of how far the damage could be," said Jyothi.
The impact of this solar storm can trigger problems with electronic devices and electronic signal repeaters used to transmit data via submarine cables. This big solar storm is said to have a strong enough impact to cut off the internet for several days, even months.
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Aurora. A solar storm is reported to have hit Earth today and could cause power and satellite disruptions |
Is it a solar storm?
Quoted from LiveScience, solar storms are common events. This event occurs when Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) erupt from the Sun's outer atmosphere and hit Earth's magnetic shield.
The CME is a large clump of plasma that escapes the Sun's atmosphere and soars at a speed of several hundred to several thousand km per second in outer space. Plasma itself is a gas that has an electric charge that makes up all the stars in the universe.
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According to NOAA, the CME only takes 15 to 18 hours to reach Earth after leaving the Sun's atmosphere. And what is currently hitting Earth are four CMEs. Quoted from thehackpost, this less powerful solar storm that occurred was originally predicted.
How do auroras happen?
The CME released by the Sun creates a storm that hits and slightly compresses Earth's magnetic shield. As a result of the impact, some of the Sun's particles move rapidly along the Earth's magnetic shield toward the poles and hit atmospheric molecules along their path.
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This collision causes atmospheric molecules to release energy in the form of light that glows in red, green, blue, and yellow waves. Here's how an aurora event occurs. The bigger the solar storm, the more the aurora can be seen by a wider area. A super solar storm with a level of G5 causes the aurora to be seen all the way to the equatorial territory far from the poles.
An example is a geomagnetic storm in 1859 known as The Carrington Moment. In addition to causing violent aurorae, these events disturbed Earth's magnetosphere and burned the majority of telegraph cables in that period.
