A massive solar storm is headed towards the Earth after the Sun erupted and sent a firestorm of energy shooting into space yesterday. The solar flare erupted unexpectedly on the Sun in the late hours of March 11, 2022 that lasted for hours. Reports suggest that the coronal mass ejection (CME) was launched at a high speed of 600 KM/s. The eruption took place on the side of the sun facing the Earth and as a result, our home planet is set to suffer a hit from a solar storm that may be in the vicinity of G1 or G2 level on Sunday, March 13. The solar flare was unexpected and happened in a region of the Sun where such solar activities are not seen much. Read on to find out what impact the solar storm may have.
Reporting on the event, SpaceWeatherLive.com posted on Twitter, “A long duration C2 solar flare launched an asymmetrical full halo coronal mass ejection into space. The solar plasma cloud is likely to arrive at Earth late on Sunday, 13 March. Minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions are likely with a chance of moderate G2 conditions”.
The solar storm is reportedly minor but its effect will still be seen in the form of auroras “near the northern or southern) horizon under optimal conditions”. Further, the solar storm may also cause minor glitches in some smaller satellites orbiting around the Earth.
NASA has classified solar storms into 5 different levels from G1 to G5. G1 is the most minor level of solar storm that only causes aurora light effects near the northern horizon. G2 can cause some minor glitches into the small satellites that are not fully heat and radiation protected G3 and G4 can cause moderate to severe damage to even larger satellites with enough protection. And finally, the G5 class geomagnetic storm is so
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