Geomagnetic storm from the sun expected to blast Earth tonight — here’s what to brace for
A storm could be-fall us.
Colorful leaves and cooler temperatures aren’t the only thing autumn is potentially bringing.
Meteorologists predict that Earth could be blasted by a geomagnetic storm on Wednesday due to its timing with the autumnal equinox𒅌.
A coronal mass ejection — when plasma and magnetic particles burst forth from the sun’s surface — occurred on Sunday, the s🌳ame day as the official start of fall, .
It reportedly occurred when a sunspot called AR3835 unexpectedly spouted an M-class solar flare — something scientists hadn’t predicted, as said sunspot had appeared stable.
The CME coul🍬d cause a geomagnetic storm in this instance due to a phenomenon called the Russell-McP☂herron effect.
During the spring and fall equinoxes, whic𓆉h usually occur around March 20 and Sept. 22, respectively, geomagnetic storms and space weather activity tend to peak.
This is because the Earth orientatꦿes its poles, aligning its magnetic field with that of the sun.
Such conditions make CMEs more likely than during the rest of the year, when the magnetospheres are misaligned, thereby deflecting the star’s charged particles like an interstellar surge protector.
“This [orientation of Earth’s poles with the sun] maximizes the ‘coupling’ between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field,” Mike Hapgood, the principal consultant on space weather at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Space in the United Kingdom, .
“In summer or winter, one of the Earth’s poles is pointing at an angle from the solar wind so the coupling between them is lower and hence there are fewer storms on average,” he added.
However, there’s no need to brace for an electrical apocalypse just yet.
, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the CME-induced geomagnetic weather will be a G1, or a “minor” class, storm, the weakest of the five categories.
