The consequences of one of the largest solar flares ever recorded could be felt on Earth this weekend – for example on the internet, GPS signals or the electricity grid. And they can also be noticeable in the Northern Lights.
A NASA space agency telescope has captured the largest solar flare in years. This could cause internet and power outages on Earth this weekend. According to the US Space Weather Prediction Center, geomagnetic storms of categories G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) are expected during Saturday and Sunday as a result of the solar flare.
G2 storms can, among other things, require spacecraft orientation to be corrected by ground control. In addition, certain types of radio communications may be affected at higher latitudes. Damage to transformers of electricity networks is also possible. Moreover, auroras could also be visible far south of the Arctic.
The geomagnetic storms, also called solar storms, are caused by so-called coronal mass ejections, which took place in a particularly active part of the sun on Thursday and Friday, according to NASA. A plasma cloud consisting of electrons, protons and certain atomic nuclei was thrown into space. When these particles hit the Earth’s magnetic field, it is known as a solar storm or magnetic storm.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the current eruption was a Class X eruption, the highest category, and likely one of the strongest solar flares ever recorded. Since the phenomenon takes one to three days to reach Earth, we can expect the biggest impact on December 17.
According to NASA, the eruption occurred in the far northwest of the sun. The organization captured the event with the Solar Dynamics Observatory in extreme ultraviolet light, capturing the massive energy burst as a huge, bright flash.
The eruption releases a large amount of radiation, the organization wrote on Platform X. However, the radiation cannot penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere and is therefore not harmful to people on the ground. “However, if they are strong enough, they can disrupt the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals are transmitted,” writes NASA.
A NASA telescope has captured the biggest solar flare in years, which temporarily knocked out radio communication on Earth. Link:
— Spectrum News 1 HV (@SPECNews1HV) December 16, 2023
Sol unleashed an X-class solar flare on Dec 14; the source was sunspot group AR 3514, which delivered the shot just before starting to rotate around the solar limb out of view.
This could spark a good auroral display tonight for high- to mid- latitudes. pic.twitter.com/SItzU3qSI6
— Dave Dickinson (@Astroguyz) December 16, 2023
2023-12-16 16:00:36
#Intense #solar #flare #power #grid #internet #disruptions #December
