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| Oops, there goes that satellite |
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A burst of radiation on the sun's surface may trigger a geomagnetic
storm on Earth today that could disrupt satellite communications and the
Global Positioning System by mid-morning, scientists at the Space
Weather Prediction Center said Monday. The eruption - called a solar flare - has also sent billions of tons
of matter streaming toward Earth from the sun's surface at millions of
miles per hour in what scientists call a coronal mass ejection,
according to Rodney Viereck, a physicist at the center in Boulder, Colo.
The sun goes through 11-year cycles of violent electromagnetic
activity marked by intense sunspot regions on the surface, and right now
it is moving from a "sunspot minimum" period toward a peak of activity
with more intense and frequent magnetic storms during the next few
years. San Francisco Chronicle/Science, 1/24/12, read more.
The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm
in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.
The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST
Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three
different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather
Prediction Center in Colorado.
The radiation
is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space.
It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes, said
space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker. Radiation
from Sunday's flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely
continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other
storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation
on NOAA's storm scale — severe and extreme — Biesecker said. Still, this
storm is the strongest for radiation since May 2005...
the effects will stick around for a couple of days." USA Today, 1/24/12, read more.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
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