The CME as captured by the European Space Agency and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
(Credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO)
Although the solar maximum isn’t expected until late 2013, we’re starting to see some pretty spectacular effects. On Tuesday, the sun erupted in a massive coronal mass ejection, or CME, that sent billions of tons of particles into the solar system in the direction of Earth.
It’s expected that this wave of particles will pass Earth within about three days, causing a phenomenon known as a geomagnetic storm. This is normal, and will cause no absolutely direct harm to humans.
The sun enters solar maximum, the period of its cycle in which it is most active, every 11 years. This means we’ll see a rather marked increase in the number of coronal mass ejections and flares, with some pretty interesting effects here on Earth.
The coming geomagnetic storm will probably be relatively mild. The energy from the CME will buffet the Earth’s protective magnetosphere, which is likely to disrupt radio-based communications and navigation equipment, such as radio stations, walkie-talkies, a… [Read more]
Related Links:
NASA serves up first glance at solar system’s comet-like tail
35 years later, Voyager nears our solar system’s boundary
Mars Curiosity Rover gets second life as Lego model
Experimenting with fireballs in space
Pocket Spacecraft hopes to launch personalized moon missions
     |
Post a Comment