Last week, according to NASA, the sun emitted a class C solar flare that produced what scientists refer to as a coronal mass ejection (CME). This resulted in the spectacular production of aurora borealis, more commonly known as the northern lights, as the CME impacted Earth’s magnetic field on Aug. 4.
A CME is a large cloud of energized particles and plasma that are rapidly released from the sun during a solar flare, which can be viewed as shimmery greens, purples and reds on clear sky nights. CMEs are gaseous, containing hydrogen among other ions layered with magnetic fields. These magnetic fields can ultimately cause damage to electronic devices on earth or in orbit and change the direction of solar wind.
A solar flare is the solar system’s largest explosion and can pack the power of 100 million hydrogen bombs. CMEs produced along side of solar flares will travel away from the sun at speeds near 1.6 million km/h. This is what allowed the solar flare produced on Aug. 1 to make the 150 million kilometre journey from the sun to the Earth in just three days.
Last week’s example of a solar storm and aurora borealis could be a small indication of future solar activity to come.
According to NASA, “The sun goes through a regular activity cycle about 11 years long. The last solar maximum occurred in 2001 and its recent extreme solar minimum was particularly weak and long lasting. These kinds of eruptions are one of the first signs that the sun is waking up and heading toward another solar maximum expected in the 2013 time frame.”
In 2009, Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA, reported that solar eruptions could lead to “severe consequences for communications, and other technology on Earth.”
The ionized particles of a CME can interfere with power grids and satellite operations depending on the north or south orientation of the CME’s magnetic field due to their large metal structures.
This could result in an instant trip to the dark ages. All forms of electronic communications would be shut down, and life support systems in hospitals would also be interrupted.
On Oct. 28, 2003, the third largest solar flare ever observed in X-ray erupted from the sun. Electrical systems on Earth were not affected and many satellites were powered down into a “safe mode” to avoid the risk of damage from the barrage of electromagnetic activity. However, this solar eruption still crippled two Japanese satellites that were in orbit.
Presently, NASA uses the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as its main detection measure for increased solar wind activity. Released into orbit in 1997, the ACE is a solar wind monitor that sits between the sun and the Earth and is able to detect solar gusts as much as 30 minutes before they hit Earth’s atmosphere. This could be enough time needed to power down communication satellites in Earth’s orbit so communication could be restored after a large CME hits the planet.
