The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday that the ongoing solar storm has hit the planet’s polar regions, potentially causing radio outages for days. Experts say the collision occurred when a “cannibal” coronal mass ejection (CME) made its way to Earth from the sun.
Possible radio outage is part of the Polar cap absorption, which is when high-frequency and high-frequency radio waves are absorbed by the ionosphere, while low-frequency and very low-frequency radio waves are reflected at lower altitudes than normal. NOAA said the event has been going on since Monday night at about 9:15 p.m. ET.
This event was caused by a huge cloud of plasma coming from the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), as well as the powerful solar flare M5. These two explosions triggered a minor solar radiation storm that sent energetic protons to Earth.
“PCA events can block the ability to communicate via high-frequency radio propagation around the polar regions and can last for hours to days,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday. This event will likely continue throughout July 18th and possibly until July 19th.
The solar radiation storm is rated S1 on a scale up to S5, which means it has no biological effects and will not affect satellite operations, although it may cause radio outages at the poles.
NOAA’s notice came shortly after the agency Announce M5.7 glow The CME erupted from the same region of the Sun and a moderate solar radiation gust with the potential to cause radio dimming on the sunlit side has been detected by satellite.
The agency said Sunday that solar flares were expected throughout the week Chance of X class flares – The most powerful eruptions, described as “sunbursts” – on Monday and Tuesday. But there are also CME “cannibals” on the way, experts say, given that the sun, currently in its fourth year of turnwitnessed more plasma explosions just days ago.
On Friday, the sun experienced a small solar flare as well as a “dark eruption” on the sun’s surface, resulting in SpaceWeather.com It was described as “a mist of dark plasma” that “flew away from the Sun’s southern hemisphere.” A day later, a second, more powerful glow erupted from the sun.
According to SpaceWeather.com, NOAA models show that the second flare is expected to essentially consume the first, forming what’s known as a “cannibal CME.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that middle school institutions participating in the event are expected to arrive on Tuesday, making them Low level geomagnetic storm Possible on top of the current solar radiation storm.
under Minor geomagnetic stormthe northern lights It could be visible from Michigan and Maine, NOAA says, and there could be minor effects on power grids and satellite operations.
said Daniel Brown, Professor of Astronomy at Nottingham Trent University Newsweek The strength of the CMEs is what determines how strong a geomagnetic storm the planet will eventually experience.
“The amount of material ejected, its velocity, and the associated magnetic fields, as well as how it interacts with other particles already emitted from the sun, all add up to a bumpy environment moving outwards from the sun until Earth’s magnetic field travels through it,” Brown said. The interaction is stronger and the potential for a strong geomagnetic storm has increased.”