Solar storm will hit Earth this Thursday

[Akrapovic]

The phenomenon can affect the electrical infrastructure. Auroras are expected at high latitudes.

From 6 a. m. Greenwich hour (1 am from Colombia) this Thursday, the Earth will receive in an unusual way the inclement force of the Sun. During its movement through space, the planet will be located in the middle of a jet of energetic particles emitted by the star that governs our cosmic neighborhood, what is po[CENSORED]rly known as a storm or solar flare.
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According to the scientists' estimations, the inhabitants of the high latitudes will be able to witness a series of manifestations of this phenomenon, ranging from striking plays of lights in the sky - the so-called lights of the north or auroras - to alterations in the electrical and telecommunications systems.
This is established by the observations made by agencies such as NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, which in recent days have identified the 12741 active region on the Sun -an zone with a sunspot that this week has crossed the central meridian of our star - has been ejecting into space clouds of plasma with average speeds of 500 kilometers per second.

These clouds, which are a manifestation of the so-called solar wind, contain a significant amount of material composed mainly of charged particles, such as electrons and protons. After traveling 150 million kilometers - distance that separates the Sun from Earth - this jet will meet our planet.

When arriving at the Earth, these particles interact with the magnetosphere, or terrestrial magnetic field, that works like a shield repelente of the burst of particles, responsible for the luminous shows of the aurora borealis, but that also affect more and more the technology. It is at this time that the particle cloud is called a geomagnetic storm.

To understand the possible damage to the infrastructure caused by the geomagnetic storm, astrophysicist Camilo Buitrago uses the following example: "any straight wire that is under the influence of a variable magnetic field experiences the induction of an electric current inside it. If we put together many of these wires and connect them to an electrical transformer, these currents can overload the transformer and burn it. This is exactly what can happen during a very intense solar storm.
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"In this case," he continues, "the earth's magnetic field is continuously distorted, being able to induce currents in the electrical wiring that connects the big cities, potentiating the burning of large transformers and causing blackouts," he adds.

According to the astrophysicist, the issue does not happen to greater thanks to the magnetic field that protects the Earth, which generates a force on the electrically charged particles sent by the Sun, diverting their trajectories and causing them to enter the Earth just for the poles

"There, the electrons and protons coming from the Sun collide with the atoms of our atmosphere, mainly nitrogen and oxygen, transferring them energy and putting them in non-stable energy states, which can emit green and violet light. All these colors are mixed to create fluorescent light flows in the night sky: the auroras, "explains Buitrago.
According to the astrophysicist Santiago Vargas, the solar wind compresses the magnetosphere and triggers a geomagnetic storm on Earth: "this type of phenomenon is normal, but it is more frequent during the most active periods of the so-called solar cycle, which is currently approaching a minimum. The scientists' estimates indicate that the minimum solar activity should occur at the beginning of next year, so events like this week are unexpected in weak stages of the solar cycle and we have no ability to predict them, "says Vargas.


The expert says that the solar cycle, which was discovered in the nineteenth century from the observations of sunspots that now accumulate about 400 years without interruption, lasts, on average, about 11 years, during which the activity of The star fluctuates between moments of higher and lower intensity, experiencing an inversion in the magnetic field between the north and south poles.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Akrapovic;
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