The Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, in English) recently issued a G3 type alert, in which it reports the arrival at Earth of a strong coronal mass ejection (CME), commonly known as a solar storm.
According to the US center, this event is expected to reach the planet in the next few hours.
“There is a high degree of confidence that the EMC is heading toward Earth and a moderate level of confidence in the timing of its arrival, which we anticipate between Thursday night and Friday morning,” NOAA said.
What are the effects that the solar storm could cause?
According to NOAA, this type of phenomenon can affect communications, especially high-frequency radio communications, which impacts the areas of the planet that are illuminated when solar waves reach Earth.
On the other hand, although to a lesser extent, it could also affect low-frequency navigation signals, both at short and long intervals.
According to National Geographic, This phenomenon has different categories; In this case, it is classified as a G3 (strong) storm, which can cause solar waves to generate visible northern lights in areas far away from usual.
The Space Prediction Center clarifies that solar storms can vary in intensity depending on various factors, such as speed, magnetic strength and the orientation of the magnetic field (EMC).
“We must wait for the EMC to reach the solar wind observation spacecraft located at Lagrange Point 1 (L1), 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, to determine its real intensity. At that time, we will know the speed, magnetic strength and orientation of the magnetic field of the EMC,” said the Space Weather Prediction Center.
What is a solar storm?
National Geographic specifies that this event, also known as a geomagnetic storm, occurs when the Sun emits a large number of particles charged with electromagnetic radiation that impact the Earth’s magnetic field.
These coronal mass ejections (CMEs) cause solar flares and high-speed solar wind currents, which during their journey can release plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun.
The organization clarifies that this phenomenon occurs regularly on Earth and that there is a risk scale that allows measuring the possible danger of each event.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States), these events are classified on a scale of 5 levels, ranging from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme).