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A solar storm could impact Earth this Tuesday, according to NASA’s prediction model

Next Tuesday a solar storm could impact the Earth as revealed by the prediction model of the NASA. The scientific Tamitha Skovknown as the ‘Space Weather Woman’, is a researcher at the US Aerospace Corporation. On Saturday he posted a video of NASA’s prediction model and wrote: “Direct hit! A snake-shaped filament from a solar storm will hit Earth.”

In turn, Skov also warns that the arrival of this tentacle of the solar storm could cause problems in GPS and radio systems. In another message he predicts the direction it can take and the strength it would reach depending on the orientation.

Following her forecast, the scientist posted a stunning five-second video of the sun. “The long, snake-like filament sweeps across the Sun in an impressive ballet,” she writes. And she adds: “The magnetic orientation of this Earth-directed solar storm is going to be difficult to predict. If the magnetic field of this storm is oriented south, G2 (possibly G3) conditions can occur.”

Solar storms are classified from 1 to 5, so a G2 would be a moderate impact. Interference with GPS or radio signals can last from a few minutes to hours, if more intense. When these filaments reach Earth, “energy from a solar flare will interact with the ionosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere that is critical for radio signals,” he explained to The Washington Post. Alex Youngassociate director of science in the heliophysics division at NASA’s Goddard Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

the solar storms

A solar storm, also known as a geomagnetic storm, is an episode of increased solar wind emission or coronal mass ejections that, when intense enough, produce alterations in the Earth’s magnetosphere. On the other hand, the solar wind is a flow of electrically charged particles that the Sun emits continuously in all directions towards space. When this flow is more intense than normal, solar storms are generated.

On the other hand, a coronal mass ejection is a kind of solar explosion that brings with it a spectacular ejection of matter, more specifically solar plasma with magnetic properties. The Sun goes through different phases, since every 11 years its magnetic poles are reversed and it leaves its relative calm to be intensely active. It is at the peak of solar activity or solar maximum when coronal mass ejections occur more frequently and also when there are more solar storms.

solar cycles

The solar cycle is the cycle that the Sun’s magnetic field completes approximately every 11 years. Our Sun is a huge electrically charged ball of hot gas. This electrically charged gas moves around, generating a powerful magnetic field. The Sun’s magnetic field goes through a cycle, called the solar cycle.

Every 11 years or so, the Sun’s magnetic field completely changes. This means that the north and south poles of the Sun switch places. Then they take about 11 years to return to the starting position again. The solar cycle affects activity on the Sun’s surface, such as sunspots caused by magnetic fields. As the magnetic fields change, so does the amount of activity on the Sun’s surface.

The most powerful solar storm in history

Until now, the most powerful solar storm recorded was the Carrington Storm in 1859by astronomer Richard Carrington, who witnessed the event and was the first person to understand the relationship between solar activity and geomagnetic disturbances on Earth.

In 2012 there was one of similar magnitude to the nineteenth century, although it passed by without hitting us. Other minor ones occurred in 1921, 1989, 1994, 1997 and 2000, damaging GPS systems, electrical networks and various communications satellites, which affected the work of the media in localized locations and forced hydroelectric plants to stop.

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