NASA: A dangerous solar storm is headed towards the Earth; can cause radio blackouts

tech.hindustantimes.com:

After a brief spell of peace, a dangerous solar storm is Earth-bound again. According to NASA, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was spotted leaving the Sun on June 1, and there is a strong likelihood that it can hit the Earth on either June 5 or June 6. The solar storm eruption frequency has grown exponentially high in the months of March and April as a particularly notorious sunspot came in direct view of the Earth. The resultant solar storms caused radio blackouts in different parts of the Earth and disrupted navigation systems for planes and ships. It also impacted short radio communications. After an uneventful May, it appears that solar activity has picked up once again. Read on to find out how dangerous this particular solar storm can be.

SpaceWeather.com explained the events of June 1 and said, “A minor coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun on June 1st will pass close to Earth on June 5th, according to NOAA analysts. It might come close enough for a glancing blow. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the CME arrives this weekend”.

According to NASA classification, this particular solar storm can fall between G1 and G2. The scale of severity of solar storms falls between G1 to G5, with G1 being the weakest and G5 being the strongest. As per the classification, it appears that this solar storm will not cause much problem for us, however, it should be remembered that a G2 strength geomagnetic storm is enough to cause minor impact on GPS, navigation systems and ham radios. So, depending on which side of the Earth faces this solar storm, there might be some inconvenience to these services. At its worst, these geomagnetic storms can damage mobile networks, satellites and even power grids.

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