So far so good, as solar storm hits Earth
Source: Agencies |
March 9, 2012, Friday
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ONE of the strongest solar storms in years engulfed Earth yesterday, but scientists say the planet may have lucked out.
Hours after the storm arrived, officials said were no reports of problems with power grids, satellites or other technologies that are often disrupted by solar storms.
But that still can change as the storm shakes the planet's magnetic field in ways that could disrupt technology but also spread colorful Northern Lights.
Early indications show that it is 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits Earth.
The storm started with a massive solar flare Tuesday evening and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. The charged particles were expected to hit at 6.4 million kilometers per hour.
The storm struck about 1100 GMT in a direction that causes the least amount of problems, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
"It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," he said.
Forecasters can predict the speed a solar storm travels and its strength, but the north-south orientation is the wild card. And this time, Earth got dealt a good card with a northern orientation, which is "pretty benign," Kunches said. If it had been southern, that would have caused the most damaging technological disruption and biggest auroras.
"We're not out of the woods," Kunches added. "It was a good start. If I'm a power grid, I'm really happy so far."
But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said.
"It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come," Kunches said.
North American utilities so far have not reported any problems, said Kimberly Mielcarek, spokeswoman for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a consortium of electricity grid operators.
A massive cloud of charged particles can disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite networks and global positioning services, especially in northern areas. But it can also paint colorful auroras farther from the poles than normal.
The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach a peak next year. Solar storms do not harm people, but they do disrupt technology. And during the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts.
The region of the sun that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. Another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth.
"This is a big sun spot group, particularly nasty," NASA solar physicist David Hathaway said.
"Things are really twisted up and mixed up. It keeps flaring."
Hours after the storm arrived, officials said were no reports of problems with power grids, satellites or other technologies that are often disrupted by solar storms.
But that still can change as the storm shakes the planet's magnetic field in ways that could disrupt technology but also spread colorful Northern Lights.
Early indications show that it is 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits Earth.
The storm started with a massive solar flare Tuesday evening and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. The charged particles were expected to hit at 6.4 million kilometers per hour.
The storm struck about 1100 GMT in a direction that causes the least amount of problems, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
"It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," he said.
Forecasters can predict the speed a solar storm travels and its strength, but the north-south orientation is the wild card. And this time, Earth got dealt a good card with a northern orientation, which is "pretty benign," Kunches said. If it had been southern, that would have caused the most damaging technological disruption and biggest auroras.
"We're not out of the woods," Kunches added. "It was a good start. If I'm a power grid, I'm really happy so far."
But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said.
"It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come," Kunches said.
North American utilities so far have not reported any problems, said Kimberly Mielcarek, spokeswoman for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a consortium of electricity grid operators.
A massive cloud of charged particles can disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite networks and global positioning services, especially in northern areas. But it can also paint colorful auroras farther from the poles than normal.
The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach a peak next year. Solar storms do not harm people, but they do disrupt technology. And during the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts.
The region of the sun that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. Another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth.
"This is a big sun spot group, particularly nasty," NASA solar physicist David Hathaway said.
"Things are really twisted up and mixed up. It keeps flaring."
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