Alert! Fierce solar storm on Diwali coming to Earth; Know the danger

A powerful solar storm can strike the Earth on Diwali, October 24 as fast moving solar winds are expected to strike.

A big solar storm is heading for the Earth on Diwali, October 24. It is caused by fast-moving solar winds. (Pixabay)

As India prepares for the festival of Diwali and various other regional festivals, the threat of an incoming solar storm is casting a long shadow over Earth. Solar storms have caused a great deal of grief for people this year as the Sun is nearing the peak of its solar cycle. Multiple radio blackouts have been witnessed all over the world, and in February, around 40 starlink satellites were destroyed by such solar disturbances. But now, according to reports, solar storms are likely on the festival of Diwali and it can be a big concern. Read on to know how this might affect us.

The development was reported by SpaceWeather.com which noted, “Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on Oct. 24th when a fast moving stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere”. The official word first came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a US organization that monitors space weather.

Solar storm to strike the Earth on Diwali

These solar storm attacks will be generated by fast moving solar winds. Solar winds are the outward expansion of plasma (a collection of charged particles) from the Sun's corona (outermost atmosphere). The plasma is heated to such a degree that even the Sun's gravity cannot hold it down. As a result, it gets ejected into space at a high speed. The plasma contains high magnetic charge, which is what causes solar storms once it strikes the magnetosphere of Earth.

The most common result of a solar storm is an aurora display. People living in the higher latitudes will be able to see a colorful night sky during the solar storm. However, there are worse things it can do. For instance, radio wave outages and GPS disruptions can cause flight delays and affect Ham radio operations.

It should be remembered that solar storms contain extremely high magnetic charge that can affect any electronic device that runs on computers. A few years ago, a woman's pacemaker stopped working on a flight when a solar storm struck and corrupted the chip within the pacemaker. Such horrific stories remind how serious solar storms can really be.