NASA has a full suite of devices to measure photo voltaic exercise that impacts Earth. The Photo voltaic and Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO is without doubt one of the premier devices that’s utilized by NASA and ESA. Launched in 1995, SOHO is provided with 12 scientific devices, comparable to an Excessive Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), LASCO (Massive Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph), and others. SOHO captures photographs of the solar’s corona, measures the rate and magnetic fields of the solar’s floor, and observes the faint corona across the solar.
With the assistance of such superior tech, forecasters have revealed {that a} CME hit Earth lately and brought on an enormous jolt that sparked a geomagnetic storm as we speak.
CME strikes Earth
In accordance with a report by spaceweather.com, forecasters on the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have revealed particulars of a CME that hit Earth yesterday, July 16. Shockingly, this CME was predicted to affect the planet as we speak, but it surely prematurely hit the planet. It brought on an enormous jolt which was measured at 20 nT by the US Geological Survey’s magnetometer, situated at Fredericksburg, Virginia. For the unaware, nT stands for nanotesla and is the SI unit that’s used to measure magnetic flux density.
Because of this CME affect, a G-1 class geomagnetic storm could possibly be on the playing cards too. The spaceweather report states, “Arriving a full day sooner than anticipated, a CME hit Earth’s magnetic area on July sixteenth. A G1-class geomagnetic storm is now underway.”
Are G1 Geomagnetic storms harmful?
In accordance with NASA, when a photo voltaic storm interacts with Earth’s magnetic area, it ends in the formation of geomagnetic storms. G1-class geomagnetic storms are thought-about minor storms, and so they typically do not trigger a number of harm. Such magnetic storms will not be sturdy sufficient to have an effect on cellular networks or harm satellites, however they will nonetheless trigger radio blackouts and disrupt GPS indicators. Whereas geomagnetic storms have an effect on tech, they’re additionally the explanation behind beautiful streaks of inexperienced gentle throughout the sky generally known as Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis.
Issues might be worsened if these CME clouds decide up photo voltaic winds on their approach and mix with them to spark terrifying photo voltaic storms.
