On a hot and moist Night Florida -night at the end of August 1859, the sky suddenly illuminated. But it was not from fireflies or a firework. Instead, it was the Noorderlicht or Aurora Borealis. The Aurora is usually seen in many more northern widths, but it was somehow reached the subtropics and danced over the night sky. Reports from the Aurora came from as far to the south as Central America and some in the Rocky Mountains even believed it was morning Because the sky was so clear.
About the Atlantic Ocean in England, one rich amateur astronomer called Richard Carrington Also looked at the cosmos. Carringon, however, had his eyes on the sun and his various sunspots and solar flares.
“There are always sunspots, almost. You can see them with a small telescope, ‘University of Glasgow Astrophysicist Hugh Hudson tells Popular science. “Carrington outlined the areas of the spots and recorded them. He noticed at a certain point that there were two clear light spots that appeared in the Sunspot group, which should not have been there. “
What Carrington and the awesome people of the subtropical Atlantic saws were related. The Aurora was a result of the most intense solar storm in the recorded history, Now called the Carrington event. These solar storms can send large clouds of electrified gas and dust up to two million miles per hour. If and when these particles reach the earth, it can disturb and distort the magnetic field of the earth.
The Carrington event was so great that these particles have interaction with the magnetic field of the earth influenced telecommunications.
“There were sparks that were so intense that the threads caught fire in some places,” says Hudson. “Some telegraph operators were shocked and burned. When you connect the long threads to each other for power distribution, you ask for problems when such increases happen. “
Since then, engineers have learned a lot about dealing with those big threads since the Carrington event. However, our dependence on electricity has only grown exponentially. A flare of similar – or even bigger than Miyake Events-magnitude can still happen and the effects are of great importance for both SCI-Fi enthusiasts and scientists. With so much more technology in danger than just the Telegraph wires of the nineteenth centuryThe effects can be catastrophic.
“In a world that is now so dependent on electricity and electronics, a similar event has the potential to cause widespread disruptions and damage to the electronics on board the Earth-orienting satellites, ground-based electronics and the Power Grid,” ” Alex Gianninastells an astrophysicist to the Connecticut College Popular science.
Our in-space infrastructure, such as telecommunications satellites, are also particularly vulnerable to the sun Coronal mass -droppings (CME). CMEs are large eruptions on the surface of the sun that shoot drawers in the room. All that energy from the particles can break down solar panels, damage navigation systems and change orbital paths, possibly cause massive clashes and excess space waste.
[ Related: Does the Sun make noise? ]
Although there is constant activity on the surface of the sun, there are generally More low intensity flames Then a higher intensity. The solar spot activity that creates these storms and torches also rises and falls on a cycle of approximately 11 years. This year we go at the maximum level of this cycle. Larger solar storms are most likely to perform during the maximum of the sun, sometimes with several a day. During Zonne -Minima these can pop up Less than one per week.
“Geomagnetic storms, and more specifically, the CMEs they cause, increase in frequency and intensity as the solar cycle reaches its maximum,” says Gianninas. “We are currently in solar cycle 25 and still go to the maximum, which is predicted that it will occur in the coming summer, probably in July.”
While some scientists estimate that the chances of a solar storm such as the Carrington event that takes place in the following century are 12 percent or lessIt is still a threat to be taken seriously. A range of satellites is currently constantly checking the sun. These include the Geostationary operational environment -satellite (Goes), The two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Satellites (Stereo -a and -B), The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). These send data and images back in both visible and invisible light, so that we can see a wide range of activities.
[ Related: Hold onto your satellites: The sun is about to get a lot stormier. ]
According to Gianninas it can take between a few hours and a few days before the particles of a CME reach the earth, so there is an advance warning that something is coming. Noaa Space Weather Prediction Center Also follows all these activities and can be a good source to determine where and when the aurora can be visible. This can give utilitiessatellite operators, and Crew on board the international space station Some time to prepare their systems for impact. For the general public there is no too much to do than charging devices and ensuring that you have general emergency stocks such as water, batteries and flashlights.
For both scientists and civil scientists, this combination of potential downfall and the big questions about our origin is part of what makes this solar activity so exciting.
“People are so fascinated by the origin of life and the fundamental questions that inspire the stars in us,” says Hudson. “I think the sun is in the same category. It is just something very close and known and yet we have blackouts and strange things happen. It is therefore not surprising that 10-year-olds can be surprised by the same as adults. “
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