Solar storms often occur when the Sun belches out a flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME sends a gust of plasma and electromagnetic radiation out into space. (Reuters File Photo)
Morung Express News Dimapur | March 17 Au contraire to what several media reports are claiming, no 'Massive Magnetic Storm' is going to hit Earth on March 18, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has stated. The storm, according to claims from various media outlets, may cause headaches, dizziness and sleep disturbances to people across the globe. Also known as a solar storm, its “imminent” arrival was also one of morning’s top science news stories on March 12 as per Google News, Newsweek reported. In Nagaland, links to such reports are being shared widely on all social media platforms over the week creating a storm of panic among sections of people. However, these reports mostly are mere conjectures, particularly the impact and intensity of the storm, NOAA has clarified. The news reports are wrong, Newsweek said citing NOAA. It is a scientific agency under United States Department of Commerce which predicts not only conditions of the weather on Earth, but space weather events like geomagnetic storms. [caption id="attachment_346004" align="aligncenter" width="780"]
A long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupts out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2012. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3, 2012. The image above includes an image of Earth to show the size of the CME compared to the size of Earth. REUTERS/NASA/GSFC/SDO/Handout[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_346006" align="aligncenter" width="643"]
Solar activity is shown in an image made by NASA's SOHO Large Angle andSpectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument at 6:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) on
October 28, 2003. The cloud, known to astronomers as a coronal mass
ejection, is the one of the strongest ever detected since scientists
started measuring these phenomena a quarter-century ago. When that
cloud of particles gets here, perhaps by midday Wednesday, it could
have severe effects, such as affecting some modern electronics and
navigation equipment. REUTERS/Nasa/ESA Soho[/caption] [caption id="attachment_346005" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
This image of a large X2 flare from the Sun taken on February 15, 2011, as seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light has been enlarged and superimposed on SOHO's C2 coronagraph for the same period, in this photograph released by NASA February 16, 2011. This was the largest flare in over four years. The coronagraph shows the faint edge of a "halo" coronal mass ejection (CME) as it races away from the Sun and was heading towards Earth. Scientists predict that this CME is likely to catch up with ones from February 13 and 14, and the whole mass of particles should reach Earth late February 18th. REUTERS/NASA/Handout[/caption]
"This story is not plausible in any way, shape or form. Things are all quiet for space weather, and the sun is essentially spotless," the report said quoting Bob Rutledge, who leads NOAA's Space Weather Forecast Center.
“Most coverage appeared to be based on a misinterpretation of a chart posted on Russia’s Lebedev Institute’s website showing a minor uptick in geomagnetic activity on the 18th. That elevated activity is expected to be a minor storm at most,” it added.
The NOAA website describes solar/geomagnetic storm as “a temporary disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field, caused by radiation and streams of charged particles from the sun.”
Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of G1 to G5, with G5 being the most extreme.
The March 18 “massive storm” is rated as a G1—a minor which occurs “frequently, about 2,000 times every 11 years, or once every two days.” G-2 is a moderate storm, G-3 is a strong storm, G-4 is a severe storm, and G-5 is an extreme storm.
"A minor geomagnetic storm watch is now in effect for the 14 and 15 March, 2018. Aurora may be visible at high latitudes,” NOAA wrote in an update.
A report on sciencealert.com also quoted the United Kingdom Metrological Office as saying, "Solar activity is forecast to remain very low over the next four days, with no sunspot regions expected to develop or move onto the visible side of the Sun."
A massive geomagnetic storm, however, could be a big deal. Lasting only a few minutes to several hours, the affects can linger in the Earth’s magnetosphere and atmosphere for days to weeks, and are known to disrupt telecommunication systems, radio communications and can even cause radar blackouts disrupting radio navigation systems.
According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), one of the best-known examples of the impact of space weather events is the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power network on March 13, 1989 due to geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). It led to a general blackout of over 9 hours in Canada. A similar storm on September 2, 1859 resulted in disruption of telegraph service.
Nonetheless, the March 18 “massive storm” would be a minor one.
As the Newsweek cheekily suggested, “If you’re going to get space weather predictions from somewhere, get them from a scientific authority—not someone on YouTube—and double-check the legends.”
Stay indoors and switch off your mobile devices on Sunday at your own risk!
What is solar activity?
Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles are all forms of solar activity. All solar activity is driven by the solar magnetic field.
What is a solar flare?
A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. We typically see a solar flare by the photons (or light) it releases, at most every wavelength of the spectrum. The primary ways we monitor flares are in x-rays and optical light. Flares are also sites where particles (electrons, protons, and heavier particles) are accelerated.
What is a sunspot?
Sunspots, dark areas on the solar surface, contain strong magnetic fields that are constantly shifting. A moderate-sized sunspot is about as large as the Earth. Sunspots form and dissipate over periods of days or weeks. They occur when strong magnetic fields emerge through the solar surface and allow the area to cool slightly, from a background value of 6000 ° C down to about 4200 ° C; this area appears as a dark spot in contrast with the very bright photosphere of the sun. The rotation of these sunspots can be seen on the solar surface; they take about 27 days to make a complete rotation as seen from Earth.
Sunspots remain more or less in place on the sun. Near the solar equator the surface rotates at a faster rate than near the solar poles. Groups of sunspots, especially those with complex magnetic field configurations, are often the sites of solar flares. Over the last 300 years, the average number of sunspots has regularly waxed and waned in an 11-year (on average) solar or sunspot cycle.
What is a coronal mass ejection or CME?
The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.
What are coronal holes?
Coronal holes are variable solar features that can last for weeks to months. They are large, dark areas (representing regions of lower coronal density) when the sun is viewed in EUV or x-ray wavelengths, sometimes as large as a quarter of the sun’s surface. These holes are rooted in large cells of unipolar magnetic fields on the sun’s surface; their field lines extend far out into the solar system. These open field lines allow a continuous outflow of high-speed solar wind. Coronal holes tend to be most numerous in the years following solar maximum.
What is space weather?
The term “space weather” was coined not long ago to describe the dynamic conditions in the Earth’s outer space environment, in the same way that “weather” and “climate” refer to conditions in Earth’s lower atmosphere. Space weather includes any and all conditions and events on the sun, in the solar wind, in near-Earth space and in our upper atmosphere that can affect space-borne and ground-based technological systems and through these, human life and endeavor. Heliophysics is the science of space weather. (NASA)
What are Geomagnetic Storms?
A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth. These storms result from variations in the solar wind that produces major changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere. The solar wind conditions that are effective for creating geomagnetic storms are sustained (for several to many hours) periods of high-speed solar wind, and most importantly, a southward directed solar wind magnetic field (opposite the direction of Earth’s field) at the dayside of the magnetosphere. This condition is effective for transferring energy from the solar wind into Earth’s magnetosphere.
The largest storms that result from these conditions are associated with solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) where a billion tons or so of plasma from the sun, with its embedded magnetic field, arrives at Earth. CMEs typically take several days to arrive at Earth, but have been observed, for some of the most intense storms, to arrive in as short as 18 hours.
Another solar wind disturbance that creates conditions favorable to geomagnetic storms is a high-speed solar wind stream (HSS). HSSs plow into the slower solar wind in front and create co-rotating interaction regions, or CIRs. These regions are often related to geomagnetic storms that while less intense than CME storms, often can deposit more energy in Earth’s magnetosphere over a longer interval.
Storms also result in intense currents in the magnetosphere, changes in the radiation belts, and changes in the ionosphere, including heating the ionosphere and upper atmosphere region called the thermosphere. In space, a ring of westward current around Earth produces magnetic disturbances on the ground.
While the storms create beautiful aurora, they also can disrupt navigation systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and create harmful geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) in the power grid and pipelines. (NOAA)
