The sun emits radiation that is harmful but also has many benefits for living things. This is because solar radiation is filtered before it reaches the earth.
However, the sun also has a dangerous cycle for living things on earth, namely Coronal mass ejections (CMEs). A coronal mass ejection (CME), which is an event where plasma and the Sun’s magnetic field are ejected, has been identified by scientists.
It is said that a CME could hit Earth, triggering a powerful geomagnetic storm that could cripple radio broadcasts. Compiled from Metro, the CME which recently exploded according to scientists has been split into two.
This CME will eventually release large clouds of magnetized plasma into space and cause disturbances in the magnetic field to trigger radio blackouts. The CME exploded on July 14 yesterday from sunspot AR3370, followed by a second CME the following day from AR3363.
As the two eruptions occurred in rapid succession, the smaller wave was followed by a second, larger cloud, engulfing the first. It says this phenomenon is rare, requiring two CMEs to move along the same trajectory and at a certain speed.
As a single CME, neither of these current clouds would be strong enough to impact Earth’s magnetic field, but they combined have formed a mass large enough to potentially trigger a level G1 or G2 disturbance, the most severe geomagnetic storm levels.
Apart from CME explosions, other solar flares also have the potential to cause communication outages. A solar flare is a large burst of solar radiation that can reach Earth minutes after an eruption, instead of taking days like a CME explosion.
Earlier this month a strong solar flare caused radio blackouts in parts of the US and the Pacific Ocean. The radiation burst was caused by class X solar flares, the largest and most disruptive category. The CME that exploded recently was caused by two Class C flares.
To note, during June 2023, 163 sunspots have been observed, twice as many as expected and more than any other month in the last two decades. It is feared that the number will continue to increase and cause disturbances in the future.
source: okezone.com
2023-07-20 11:01:30
#Rare #Phenomenon #Solar #Plasma #Explosion #Threaten #Electoral #Apocalypse
