Solar winds and shock waves can be powerful enough to cause geomagnetic storms on Earth, meaning temporary disturbances in the magnetosphere of our planet. Such phenomenons could lead to huge damages for satellites, radio communications, and power grids.
According to WioNews.com, scientists confirm that our planet will have to deal with a few geomagnetic storms in the current week.
The British Met Office said as the publication mentioned earlier quotes:
There is a chance of enhancements to the auroral oval at times during 13th and 14th March as a result of two Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and a coronal hole high-speed stream arriving at Earth.
Harlan Spence, who’s an astrophysicist at the University of New Hampshire, declared as the same source quotes:
It’s a clear harbinger that the Sun is waking up,
We’re trying to put this in context not only … of what has the Sun done in the past, but what is the biggest thing the Sun is capable of and what should we be planning for in terms of extreme sorts of events in the future.
February 2022 has been a month full of tumultuous activity reported about the Sun. It was clear from that time that our star is going through some changes that won’t necessarily be to our benefit. Throughout the past month, the Sun has been shooting plasma into space quite often, making astronomers worried.
Our Sun got angry for a moment yesterday just before midnight UTC. A prominence eruption (maybe combined with a powerful flare?) launched a massive CME into space. While not earth-directed, the eruption was huge and could signal there might be something interesting on its way… pic.twitter.com/z0fhjNp5mO
— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) February 16, 2022
Coronal mass ejections (CME) are significant releases of plasma and accompanying magnetic fields that get unleashed from the Sun’s corona. Many associate CMEs with solar flares and with other forms of solar activity.
Considering that the Sun accounts for over 99% of the entire Solar System’s mass, this should be a strong enough reason why we should be afraid of our star. The Sun indeed provides energy, light, and heat to each and every one of us, but it also has a dark side.
