Violent solar flares are set to hit the earth in the coming days. A mammoth sunspot that is bigger than the size of earth is becoming troublesome in particular. This sunspot is sending regular solar flares that may be dangerous for earth in coming days.
The sun has become particularly active in recent times. The sun is waking up and this active sun may pose threat to the earth in the long run. Solar flares, despite many warnings have remained more or less harmless, but as their intensity increases, these solar flares may become a lot dangerous in the coming days.
Many people have been fascinated by solar flares, particularly about the ones that create lightening in the skies. Two months ago, such lights created great scenes in many parts of the world including the United States and Europe. A report while talking about the beginning of the solar flare says, “It begins with an explosion, usually above a sunspot. Sunspots are places where strong magnetic fields poke through the surface of the sun. For reasons no one completely understands, these fields can become unstable and explode, unleashing as much energy as 10 billion hydrogen bombs…From Earth we see a flash of light and X-rays. This is the “solar flare,” and it’s the first sign that an explosion has occurred. Light from the flare reaches Earth in only 8 minutes. High energy protons can follow in another ten to twenty minutes, although sometimes they take longer”.
The latest huge sunspot AR 1476 was detected by space telescopes on this past week. The sunspot from where latest solar flares are being lashed at the earth is so huge that it was called monster by scientists who first saw it. It is really huge with 100,000 kilometers size and may continue sending huge solar flares for weeks or even months.
When the Sun gets active...
Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013,
The super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.
Scientists believe it could damage everything from emergency services’ systems, hospital equipment, banking systems and air traffic control devices, through to “everyday” items such as home computers, iPods and Sat Navs.
Every 22 years the Sun’s magnetic energy cycle peaks while the number of sun spots – or flares – hits a maximum level every 11 years.
Due to heavy reliance on electronic devices, which are sensitive to magnetic energy, the storm could be damaging. On a summer day in 1859, a silent surge of power from a major geomagnetic storm fueled by a solar eruption hit telegraph offices around the world. Some telegraph operators got electric shocks. Papers caught fire. And perhaps most amazing, many telegraph systems still sent and received signals even after operators disconnected batteries.
When a burst of charged particles ejected from the Sun’s corona (the solar atmosphere) barreled into Earth’s magnetic field at more than 5 million miles an hour in 1859, it triggered brilliant auroras — those fascinating displays of light caused by the collision of charged particles in Earth’s atmosphere — . The ejection also induced currents that surged through telegraph cables, the electrical systems of the time.Charged particles that constitute the solar wind are accelerated polewards along the Earth's magnetic field lines and hit the electrically neutral atmosphere. On collision, atmospheric gases are excited and emit both light and heat to form the aurora. During periods of enhanced solar activity, such as in January this year when the strongest solar storm in seven years hit the Earth, the aurora reaches lower latitudes and can be observed more widely.The recent burst of activity is probably only the beginning of a few geomagnetically tempestuous years. Solar activity rises and falls in an 11-year cycle due to variations of the Sun's magnetic field, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2013. The near future is thus likely to bring more sunspots, solar flares and intense bursts of solar wind. The Earth is largely protected from the solar wind by its magnetic field, but not all planetary bodies are so lucky: both the Moon and Mars lack a shielding global magnetic field. The coming solar maximum presents a window of opportunity to study how the Sun's recurring activity affects these planetary environments.
The increase in space weather over the coming months will affect all the planets. Like the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn do have global magnetic fields and will probably experience enhanced auroral activity. Although the Earth's surface is largely shielded, the poles and man-made systems in space are not. As we head towards the next solar maximum, the Earth is likely to experience more geomagnetic storms that may disrupt satellite and communications systems, as well as flight routes. Prediction and close observation of space weather will be essential for understanding how our Sun influences near-surface planetary environments.
Seismic events, volcanic eruptions, power grid disturbances, enhanced atmospheric phenomenon ,Satellite burn up etc will be common in the coming few months.
