Massive solar storm set to hit Earth: GPS, phone signals likely to be damaged, power grids vulnerable

Weeks after a powerful solar flare created a blackout over the Atlantic, a solar storm is headed towards Earth likely to hit the planet on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dubbed as a geomagnetic storm, the high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field as weather forecasters issue warnings.

Generated at an equatorial hole that has recently popped up in the Sun’s atmosphere, it could lead to auroras on the poles as it strikes with Earth's magnetic field.

The massive solar flare is expected to hit satellites operating in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, impacting GPS navigation, mobile phone signals and satellite TV. The flares also have the potential of affecting power grids in some parts of the world. Experts also fear that the strong winds may trigger a geomagnetic storm in Earth's magnetosphere.

A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the storm is the result of major changes in the currents, plasmas produced by solar winds. However, to create a geomagnetic storm, a solar wind has to sustain high speeds for a long period of time, which transfers the energy of the wind into Earth's magnetic field.

The largest storms that result from these conditions are associated with solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) where billions of tons of plasma from the Sun are hurtled towards planets that also reach Earth. While coronal mass ejections take days to arrive at Earth, some have been observed to arrive within 15-18 hours of being ejected from the Sun.

The Sun had recently ejected one of the biggest solar flares observed in over four years that caused a radio blackout over the Atlantic. The X-class solar flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean.

A solar flare is a sudden, rapid, and intense explosion on the surface of the Sun that happens when massive amounts of energy stored in magnetic fields are suddenly released. The explosion emits radiation across the length and breadth of the universe, hurtling them towards planets in the solar system. These radiations contain radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays.

While studies to understand and predict such ejections have been ongoing, Isro had recently observed around 100 microflares, providing new insights about coronal mass heating on the Sun. (India Today)