Class 2 explosion caused interference to radio sets around the Southern Hemisphere
Posted on: 17-02-2024 at 12:00
By: João Victor Reynol de Andrade
Rafael Santucci is a professor and astronomy researcher at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and director of the Goiânia planetarium | Photo: João Reynol/O Hoje
In about 4 billion years the Sun will burn the last hydrogen molecules, what follows will be the last gasps of the celestial furnace that will consume the Earth (and humanity, or what’s left of it) in the process, leaving behind only a white dwarf the size of a planet and a hundred times smaller than it was. Until this happens, the star will still boil in space as it has done for 4 billion years, however, this does not mean that the Sun cannot still be a possible danger to Earthlings.
A potential risk to human technological civilization are solar explosions, also called coronary mass ejections by experts, which expel thousands of particles charged with radiation from the Sun into the void. Every now and then our planet is hit by one of them, which can vary from the location affected and the intensity, as was recorded by scientists around the globe last Friday morning (9) when one of these explosions reached the territory Brazilian.
According to astronomers’ calculations, this explosion was of intensity M and caused a blackout in shortwave radio devices in both South America and Africa. According to the Professor of Astronomy at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and Director of the Goiânia Planetarium, Rafael Santucci, this ejection of radiation came during a period of high solar activity that is expected to continue until 2025.
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“The Sun has an activity cycle every 11 years and every 5 years we have a peak and a minimum in which we see an increase or decrease in activity respectively. At the end of 2023 until 2025 we will be under the effect of a maximum period of solar activity, so until then we may have more cases like this”, says Rafael.
These solar explosions are the result of the way the Sun is composed, according to him, stars do not have a rigid and solid body like planets, instead they are made of a “sea” of plasma, the fourth state of matter, and are a mixture of atoms charged with ionizing radiation. Because of this, its rotation is also different due to the effect that gravity has on the Sun and that is why solar explosions occur.
“The Sun’s equator rotates faster than the polar region, so over time the surface material curls and deforms. What happens is that we see this deformation as an arc breaks and these particles spout, which is what we call this explosion. This material is very charged and affects the magnetic field wherever it passes, whether on planets or satellites.”
According to him, in a more intense event it will be possible to view the aurora borealis in the middle of Goiás, but it may not be possible to take a photo due to the way it interferes with electronic devices. However, he said that astronomical monitoring teams can predict and anticipate such an event to better warn the population if any damage were to occur.
“Generally, the Earth’s magnetic and atmospheric field holds the ‘trail’ and directs this excess radiation towards the poles, which is why we see polar auroras in these regions. However, in a more severe explosion we will be able to see the auroras in Goiânia, for example, which will be when the Earth does not contain excess radiation. However, if this occurs we could have damage to devices such as cell phones and computers by interfering with the small magnetic field they produce.”
However, the astronomer explains that there is no threat of radiation for people to move around in the open during this occasion like the one recorded over the weekend, despite the technological and informational blackouts.
2024-02-19 18:20:47
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