Arrived a few hours earlier than expected, a’coronal mass ejection (CME) struck the Earth’s magnetic field at 06:37 Italian time yesterday, June 15. As confirmed by the experts of Space Weather Forecast Center of NOAAthe “smear blow” unleashed in the following hours geomagnetic storm class G1with some sightings of polar lights: unfortunately the glow of the Strawberry super moon impaired vision. The storm loses intensity during these hours.
Credit SWPC NOAA
Credit SWPC NOAA
8 hour blast on the sun
The coronal mass ejection that reached our planet yesterday was caused by the Sunspot AR3032which produces a long explosion last June 13 at 06:07 Italian time, production of a bust solar Class M3 which lasted almost 8 hours from start to finish. The extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the upper part of the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a radio failure Shortwave on Japan and South/East Asia.
L’coronal mass ejection was produced by coronagraphs on board the discovered Solar and Heliosphere Observatory (SOHO) while NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the explosion in slow motion (images below). NOAA analysts previously predicted that the CME would pass close to Earth around 11:00 GMT yesterday, June 15 G1 class geomagnetic storms.
Credit SWPC NOAA
Credit SpaceWeather.com
What is a solar flare (or flare)
Solar flares are the most violent explosions in the solar system and can also be observed on many other stars: they are sudden increases in brightness that are clearly visible in the X-ray bands, but there can be emissions in all bands, from radium gamma. In the X-band, the solar corona emits radiation, the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere characterized by a thin plasma at millions of degrees. During flares, the plasma reaches temperatures well in excess of 10 million degrees and a brightness that can exceed that of the entire corona.
In order of increasing power, classes are A, B, C, M, and X. Each class is ten times stronger than the previous one.
The flares have a characteristic trend in brightness: a sudden increase followed by a much more gradual decrease. They don’t last long, from a few minutes to a few hours at most, and are found in small regions on the sun’s surface.
Because they are closed magnetic channels containing solar plasma, these regions are mostly arcuate. Sometimes the power of the eruption is so great that it creates solar flares, ejecting clouds of plasma into space. The flares occur more frequently during periods of high solar activity, when intense patch magnetic fields are present. The flare is thought to be caused by magnetic instabilities that accelerate particles and quickly release energy, resulting in a sudden increase in brightness followed by a more gradual cooling.
What is coronal mass ejection?
A coronal mass ejection (CME) is an ejection of material from the solar corona. The ejected material, in the form of plasma, consists mainly of electrons and protons: when this cloud reaches Earth, it can disturb its magnetosphere.
What is a geomagnetic storm
When phenomena of sudden and violent activity occur on the Sun, such as B. flares, large amounts of high-energy particles are emitted, which move quickly through space and are sometimes thrown towards the earth: This stream of particles is slowed down and deflected by the earth’s magnetic field, which in turn is disturbed and distorted.
When this “impact” occurs, the Earth’s magnetosphere (the region around the Earth permeated by the action of its magnetic field) suffers a severe setback that can cause temporary blackouts in power grids or satellite communication systems. The well-known phenomenon of the northern lights is also associated with geomagnetic storms.