Warning over solar storm that could bring rare aurora views to the US | US News
A powerful solar storm raged on Friday, enough to destroy or disrupt satellites, communications systems, power grids and radio signals, space weather researchers warned.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) issued an unusual warning Friday afternoon about extreme geomagnetic storm conditions in the G5 as a solar explosion reached Earth several hours earlier than expected. The effects were expected to last through the weekend and possibly into next week. The last Extreme G5 event was in 2003.
Noah warned operators of orbital power plants and spacecraft, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to take precautions.
“For most people on Earth, there is no need to do anything,” says scientist Rob Steenberg. space Weather forecast center.
The intensity of the geomagnetic storm that has propelled multiple solar flares toward Earth in recent days has also provided a nice bonus for sky watchers. It's a rare but spectacular view of the Northern Lights, known as the Northern Lights, in a place rarely seen. America.
The show is often only seen in Alaska and Canada, but it can be seen overnight in states such as California, Colorado, Missouri, Virginia, and possibly as far south as Alabama.
A large sunspot cluster produced moderate to some sunspots, according to Noaa. strong solar flare From Wednesday morning.
The agency said at least five coronal mass ejections (CMEs) of varying strengths of electrically charged magnetic gas are expected to coalesce and reach Earth late Friday or early Saturday, making it the first major coronal mass ejection (CME). announced that it has decided to issue a geomagnetic storm watch. Since January 2005.
“We have a very unusual phenomenon occurring,” Sean Doll, Noah's senior space weather expert, said at a press conference Friday.
“We have a series of CMEs heading our way, some catching up with others. This level of severity is quite unusual and critical infrastructure operators have been notified.”
The solar storm is classified as a G4, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, and originates from a large, magnetically complex sunspot cluster 16 times the diameter of Earth. Noah region 3664.
“Historically, the worst situation has been since 1859. Carrington EventThat's when the CME arrived on Earth and something unusual happened,” Dal said. “We don't expect that, but we can't discount the G5.”
Dall said a better indication of the possible impact could be obtained once the ejection reaches the European Space Agency later on Friday. L1 satellite It lies at the first so-called Lagrangian point in space.
“We won't know until the CME arrives a million miles from Earth. If we get to G4, there's a good chance there will be some infrastructure effects,” he said.
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The most recent event of similar or larger magnitude was in October 2003. “Halloween” G5 Solar StormIt spawned a number of what NASA described as “ghostly auroras” that wreaked havoc on the world's power grids, particularly in Sweden and South Africa.
Like the storm of 2003, this week's activity is amazing celestial show The Northern Lights can be seen in states as far south as Alabama.
This sunspot is visible from Earth to anyone who has a telescope or camera with a special solar filter, or who keeps last month's safety glasses. total solar eclipse It crossed Mexico, most of the United States, and Canada.
Despite their enormous size, approximately 125,000 miles in diameter, sunspots appear as tiny dots on the Sun's surface.
Brent Gordon, director of the Space Weather Forecasting Service, said the solar phenomenon would continue until at least Sunday.
“We have no idea what will happen, but we expect one shocking event to occur, followed by perhaps one or two others,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Summarize this content to 100 words A powerful solar storm raged on Friday, enough to destroy or disrupt satellites, communications systems, power grids and radio signals, space weather researchers warned.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) issued an unusual warning Friday afternoon about extreme geomagnetic storm conditions in the G5 as a solar explosion reached Earth several hours earlier than expected. The effects were expected to last through the weekend and possibly into next week. The last Extreme G5 event was in 2003.Noah warned operators of orbital power plants and spacecraft, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to take precautions.”For most people on Earth, there is no need to do anything,” says scientist Rob Steenberg. space Weather forecast center.The intensity of the geomagnetic storm that has propelled multiple solar flares toward Earth in recent days has also provided a nice bonus for sky watchers. It's a rare but spectacular view of the Northern Lights, known as the Northern Lights, in a place rarely seen. America.The show is often only seen in Alaska and Canada, but it can be seen overnight in states such as California, Colorado, Missouri, Virginia, and possibly as far south as Alabama.A large sunspot cluster produced moderate to some sunspots, according to Noaa. strong solar flare From Wednesday morning.The agency said at least five coronal mass ejections (CMEs) of varying strengths of electrically charged magnetic gas are expected to coalesce and reach Earth late Friday or early Saturday, making it the first major coronal mass ejection (CME). announced that it has decided to issue a geomagnetic storm watch. Since January 2005.”We have a very unusual phenomenon occurring,” Sean Doll, Noah's senior space weather expert, said at a press conference Friday.”We have a series of CMEs heading our way, some catching up with others. This level of severity is quite unusual and critical infrastructure operators have been notified.”The solar storm is classified as a G4, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, and originates from a large, magnetically complex sunspot cluster 16 times the diameter of Earth. Noah region 3664.“Historically, the worst situation has been since 1859. Carrington EventThat's when the CME arrived on Earth and something unusual happened,” Dal said. “We don't expect that, but we can't discount the G5.”Dall said a better indication of the possible impact could be obtained once the ejection reaches the European Space Agency later on Friday. L1 satellite It lies at the first so-called Lagrangian point in space.”We won't know until the CME arrives a million miles from Earth. If we get to G4, there's a good chance there will be some infrastructure effects,” he said.Skip past newsletter promotionsUS Morning Briefing breaks down the day's big stories and explains what's happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may include information about charities, online advertising, and content funded by external organizations. For more information, see privacy policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google. privacy policy and terms of service Apply.After newsletter promotionThe most recent event of similar or larger magnitude was in October 2003. “Halloween” G5 Solar StormIt spawned a number of what NASA described as “ghostly auroras” that wreaked havoc on the world's power grids, particularly in Sweden and South Africa.Like the storm of 2003, this week's activity is amazing celestial show The Northern Lights can be seen in states as far south as Alabama.This sunspot is visible from Earth to anyone who has a telescope or camera with a special solar filter, or who keeps last month's safety glasses. total solar eclipse It crossed Mexico, most of the United States, and Canada.Despite their enormous size, approximately 125,000 miles in diameter, sunspots appear as tiny dots on the Sun's surface.Brent Gordon, director of the Space Weather Forecasting Service, said the solar phenomenon would continue until at least Sunday.”We have no idea what will happen, but we expect one shocking event to occur, followed by perhaps one or two others,” he said.The Associated Press contributed to this report
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/northern-lights-severe-storm Warning over solar storm that could bring rare aurora views to the US | US News
