Solar winds rushing towards Earth! Geomagnetic storm risk in the coming days
Earth has been in the firing line of solar storms and more recently as the Sun is nearing the middle of its 11-year solar cycle. This has resulted in increased solar activity. Earth has faced numerous solar flares these past few months and more are expected as the Sun moves ahead in its cycle. NOAA forecasters have revealed that Earth is at risk of a geomagnetic storm soon.
According to spaceweather.com, the solar winds blowing towards Earth are a result of hot gaseous material escaping from a canyon-like hole in the Sun's atmosphere. This hole is known as a Sunspot. The Spaceweather.com report said, ”A high-speed stream of solar wind is approaching Earth. The gaseous material is flowing from a canyon-like hole in the sun's atmosphere. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible when the solar wind arrives.”
The solar particles tend to interact with the Earth's magnetic field and spark Geomagnetic storms. When solar particles hit Earth, the radio communications and the power grid can be affected. It can cause power and radio blackouts for several hours or even days. However, electricity grid problems occur only if the solar flare is extremely large.
As per the K-index, which measures the magnetic field around the Earth, solar storms are divided into 5 classes from G-1 to G-5. The G-1 is the lowest impact solar G5 is given to the most severe solar storms.
Auroras form as a result of the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun which sends solar fares hurtling towards Earth. Geomagnetic storms are often the precursor to stunning streaks of green light across the sky known as Northern Lights.
NASA has a mission in place to study the rising solar activity of the Sun. NASA's SunRISE mission, which stands for the Sun Radio
Read more on tech.hindustantimes.com
