Earth’s satellites, power grids and aircraft may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares

Earth’s satellites, power grids and aircraft may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares

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  • Contains solar flares probe particles, which poses a threat to astronauts, satellites, power grids and aircraft.
  • In addition, it is very difficult to predict ahead of time.
  • Scientists believe they know where these particles come from, which could help astronomers better predict solar flares that pose a threat to the Earth and its technology.

Every now and then the sun spits a sun torch which leaves the Earth’s critical infrastructure on point. One example is the ‘Carrington event’ of 1859 in which a major solar storm caused telegraphic systems in Europe and America to fail. Another is the massive power outage in 1989 in Quebec.

Knowing when a solar flare will occur can better prepare the earth for solar storms and reduce the risk to human life. What could be a milestone in this research, a new study by astronomers at University College London (UCL) and George Mason University could at least tell others where to look.

Earth's satellites, power grids and aircraft may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
A medium-sized (M2) solar flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted on 14 July 2017 from the same large active area of ​​the sun. The blaze lasted nearly two hours, according to NASA.NASA

What are we talking about then?
Although the Sun is 149.6 million kilometers away, it is known that potentially dangerous solar particles within these torches could knock out satellites and cause city tensions. It also poses astronauts to astronauts and threatens the navigation capabilities of aircraft and ships.

Detecting or predicting when these solar flares will occur has so far been an elusive attempt. According to the new study, the source is not slow solar wind, but plasma layer in the sun’s outer layer, the corona. However, the sun particles are closer to the middle region of the sun’s atmosphere – the chromosphere – than to the outside of the sun.

Earth's satellites, power grids and aircraft may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
Layer of the sun (inner to extreme left from right)NASA

“Our evidence supports the theories that these highly charged particles come from plasma held low in the sun’s atmosphere by strong magnetic fields,” said co-author of the study published in Science Advances Stephanie Yardley. . “These energetic particles, as soon as they are released, are then accelerated by eruptions that move at a speed of several thousand kilometers per second.”

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The threat of solar flares
A solar cycle is the amount of time it takes for the sun’s magnetic poles to rotate. During the process, the star transitions from an active to a silent phase.

Although we know that the length of one cycle is about 11 years, it is still impossible to see when solar power will occur before it actually happens. The potentially dangerous sun particles inside these solar flares can reach the earth within minutes. And in all likelihood, the event will last a few days.

The comparable data available to scientists is limited, as records go back as far as five cycles. An analysis led by the University of Warwick was one of the first to study the last fourteen cycles for the first time and found that ‘severe’ magnetic storms occurred 42 times – that is one every 25 years.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the largest solar fire recorded was from April 2, 2001. The explosion of the sun threw a coronal mass ejection into space at a tremendous speed of about 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Fortunately, the torch was not aimed at the earth.

Earth's satellites, power grids and aircraft may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
On Monday, April 2, 2001, the sun unleashed the largest sunburn ever recorded, as observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite.NASA

The new solar cycle will be their test field
The scientists were able to detect these energetic particles because they had the same ‘fingerprint’ as plasma deep in the sun’s corona. To determine if their observations are true, these astronomers used events from the last solar cycle. In September last year, however, the star in the center of our universe began a fresh 11-year solar cycle.

These scientists will now use their observations to try to predict when the next solar flare may occur in the new solar cycle. “We are now embarking on a new solar cycle and once it is underway, we will use the same techniques to see if our results are generally true, or if these events are somehow unusual,” said lead author David Brooks said in a statement.


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