NASA, NOAA and SpaceWeather say a coronal mass ejection will reach Earth this week. It has the potential to knock out communications in some parts of the world.
Something is happening to the sun. One of the regions of the solar atmosphere currently exhibiting sunspots caught the attention of observatories on July 11, when there was a sudden increase in ultraviolet and X-ray brightness. The next ones to notice were the amateur radio communities on either side of the Pacific Ocean, when their communications were briefly interrupted.
Unlike the radiation from a flare, which reaches the Earth at the speed of light in about eight minutes, coronal mass ejections are composed of charged particles that move more slowly. It can take from a few hours to several days for them to reach the Earth’s orbit. During these maxima, the frequency of these events is especially high. And right now, we are entering the maximum of the current cycle, which is expected to peak in 2024.
This chaotic disturbance of the magnetic field is called a geomagnetic storm. It can, in turn, disrupt radio and satellite communications. In the most extreme cases, it can cause power outages.
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