A Look At A Solar Storm
Vocab level: C1
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We begin today with a solar storm that had colorful auroras dancing across the skies much farther south from where they are typically seen.
The Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the US National Weather Service,
had predicted a geothermal storm at an intensity level of G3 out of G5
but the storm reached G4 severe level conditions for a period of time.
NASA defines a solar storm as a sudden explosion of particles, energy, magnetic fields and material blasted into the solar system by the sun.
That includes eruptions of gas and magnetic fields from the sun called coronal mass ejections or CMEs
which were released from the sun last week and arrived at Earth earlier than expected.
When CMEs or solar flares are directed towards Earth,
it can create a major disturbance in our planet's magnetic field called a geomagnetic storm.
Thanks to the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere protecting us from the material from the sun,
these storms don't cause direct harm to us but...
the effects of geomagnetic storms for those of us here on Earth can range from power outages disrupted communications and satellites.
But we also get to see some stunning auroras.
You might remember a severe geomagnetic storm level G4
also triggered auroras over much of the US last October.
Researchers are observing increasingly intense solar flares and coronal mass ejections erupting from the sun
which is currently becoming more active as it experiences its solar maximum or the peak in its 11-year cycle.
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