Explosion in the sunspot: solar storm hits our earth shortly before Christmas
Created: 12/22/2021, 8:18 PM
From: Martina Lippl
This NASA image shows a 2011 solar flare that triggered a violent solar storm.
© imago stock & people
A solar storm is hurtling towards the earth.
It should arrive on our planet just before Christmas.
A coronal mass ejection has occurred during a solar flare.
The US space agency NASA and the weather agency NOAA observe the sun around the clock.
Because space weather can be a threat to the infrastructure on our earth.
It can disrupt satellites and bring power grids to their knees.
Solar storm races from space towards the earth's magnetic field
Just before Christmas, of all times, there was a solar flare on sunspot AR2908.
High-energy particles were hurled into space.
A solar storm is now moving towards the earth.
If such a solar storm hits the earth, it can have serious consequences for satellites, communication and energy supply systems.
In addition to these dangers, space weather causes one of the most beautiful natural phenomena: spectacular northern lights in the sky.
NOAA warns of radio interference
The storm is expected to hit the earth on December 23, 2021.
The storm has potential.
According to space weather experts, a category G1 geomagnetic storm could be threatened.
According to NOAA, the solar flare occurred on December 20, 2021 at 11:36 a.m. (UTC).
A so-called coronal plasma ejection (CME) of class M1 occurred at sunspot AR2908.
NOAA warns of radio failures of level R1.
As soon as more data and images of the corona are available, NOAA will update its forecast, can be read on the website.
The sun - the heart of our solar system
star | Sun |
|---|---|
Surface temperature | 5.778 degrees |
radius | 696,340 km |
Distance to earth | 149,600,000 km |
Solar storm forecast: arrival time on December 23, 2021
Initial analyzes by the
British Met Office
indicate the arrival time of the solar storm on December 23. It can take days for a solar storm to hit Earth. "The CME, which left the sun on December 20th from 2908 onwards, is expected to reach Earth on December 23rd or early December 24th," is the four-day space weather forecast on December 22nd, 2021.
The authorities classified the solar storm as a G1 with a low probability.
Geomagnetic storms are disturbances in the earth's magnetic field.
Similar to wind, there are different categories of magnetic storms to convey their impact on people and systems.
Geomagnetic storms or solar storms are divided into five levels.
Category G1 for geomagnetic storms is "negligible" according to the NOAA space scales.
Category G5 is the highest and “extreme”.
The degree of geomagnetic activity is given according to the so-called Kp index (0 to 9).
G1-Geomagnetic Storm - This can happen
With a Kp index of 5, it is a geomagnetic storm of class G1.
G1 geomagnetic storms can cause weak fluctuations in the power grid.
Slight effects on satellite operations are possible.
The solar storms can affect migratory animals in northern regions.
Northern lights - (Aurora borealis) - are often visible at high latitudes (in northern Michigan and Maine).
G1 storms occur around 1700 times every 11 years (1 solar cycle).
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