The rare cannibal coronal mass ejection (CME) is poised to hit Earth. Photo/Live Science/NASA/SDO
WASHINGTON – The rare cannibal coronal mass ejection (CME) is ready hit Earth . Coronal Mass Ejection known as Sun storm hit Earth on July 18, 2023 and has the potential to trigger a weak geomagnetic storm.
Quoted from the Live Science page, Tuesday (18/7/2023), this cannibal solar storm is two coronal mass ejections that come together to form a huge cloud of magnetic plasma. Ejection of the cannibal coronal mass occurs when the initial CME is followed by a second, more rapid CME.
As the second CME catches up with the first cloud, it engulfs it, creating a massive plasma wave. Both coronal mass ejections originate from class C solar flares, an intermediate level of solar eruption power.
The combined size and speed of the two CMS are likely to trigger level G1 or G2 disturbances, the two lowest classes for geomagnetic storms. A simulation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA) cannibalistic CME clouds will likely hit Earth on July 18.
Cannibal CMEs are rare because they require sequential CMEs that are perfectly aligned and moving at a certain speed. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of this cannibal solar storm has been found.
In November 2021, a cannibal CME crashed into Earth, triggering one of the first major geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle. Two more CMEs will hit our planet in 2022, the first in March and another in August, and both trigger powerful G3 class storms.
Cannibal CMEs become more likely during solar maximum activity, of the roughly 11-year solar cycle. During this time, the number of sunspots and solar flares has increased markedly because the sun’s magnetic field has become increasingly unstable.
Scientists originally predicted that the next solar activity maximum would arrive in 2025 and be weaker than previous solar cycles. Earth has been hit by five major geomagnetic storms (G4 or G5) this year, including the strongest in more than six years.
This storm has heated the thermosphere, the second highest layer in Earth’s atmosphere, to its highest temperature in more than 20 years. The number of sunspots also increases as it approaches solar maximum, reaching its highest total for nearly 21 years in June.
(wib)
2023-07-18 13:36:52
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