Scary Solar storm to strike the Earth tomorrow, says NOAA | Tech News

Scary Solar storm to strike the Earth tomorrow, says NOAA

NOAA satellites have detected a solar wind stream approaching the Earth that can cause a solar storm tomorrow, June 2. Check details.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Jun 01 2023, 10:57 IST
Think you know our Sun? Check out THESE 5 stunning facts
Solar Flare
1/5 The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and is a 4.5 billion-year-old star – a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of the solar system. It is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from Earth, and without its energy, life as we know it could not exist here on our home planet. (Pixabay)
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2/5 The Sun’s volume would need 1.3 million Earths to fill it. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris in orbit around it. The hottest part of the Sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The Sun’s activity, from its powerful eruptions to the steady stream of charged particles it sends out, influences the nature of space throughout the solar system. (NASA)
Solar Flare
3/5 According to NASA, measuring a “day” on the Sun is complicated because of the way it rotates. It doesn't spin as a single, solid ball. This is because the Sun’s surface isn't solid like Earth's. Instead, the Sun is made of super-hot, electrically charged gas called plasma. This plasma rotates at different speeds on different parts of the Sun. At its equator, the Sun completes one rotation in 25 Earth days. At its poles, the Sun rotates once on its axis every 36 Earth days. (NASA)
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4/5 Above the Sun’s surface are its thin chromosphere and the huge corona (crown). This is where we see features such as solar prominences, flares, and coronal mass ejections. The latter two are giant explosions of energy and particles that can reach Earth. (Pixabay)
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5/5 The Sun doesn’t have moons, but eight planets orbit it, at least five dwarf planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and perhaps three trillion comets and icy bodies. Also, several spacecraft are currently investigating the Sun including Parker Solar Probe, STEREO, Solar Orbiter, SOHO, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, IRIS, and Wind. (Pixabay)
Solar Flare
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Know all about the solar storm likely to strike the Earth tomorrow, June 2. (NASA SDO)

Yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that despite the active sunspot AR3315 beginning to decay, it could trigger a solar storm on Earth. And just a day later, satellites pick up solar winds that were possibly released from the activity on the sunspot and are likely going to spark a solar storm on Earth tomorrow, June 2. The solar storm is not expected to be a major one, but it can still disrupt wireless communications and cause a radio blackout. Check the details.

As per a report by SpaceWeather.com, “NOAA forecasters say that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on June 2nd when a stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field”. There is a suspicion that the gaseous material is likely flowing out from a pair of holes in the Sun's atmosphere. It is not known whether the sunspot is directly involved in this.

Solar storm expected tomorrow

Solar winds are not very unlike a CME cloud, which is majorly responsible for solar storms on Earth. The main difference between the two is the intensity of charged particles. Since solar winds are a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun,2 they contain relatively less amount of charged particles than coronal mass ejections, which are taken from the surface of the Sun.

However, they are still capable of triggering minor to moderate storms. Such solar storms may not be strong enough to affect mobile networks or damage satellites, they can still cause radio blackouts and disrupt GPS signals. And things can be worsened if these solar winds pick up a CME on their way and combine with it to spark terrifying solar storms.

The role of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory

The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) carries a full suite of instruments to observe the Sun and has been doing so since 2010. It uses three very crucial instruments to collect data from various solar activities. They include Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) which takes high-resolution measurements of the longitudinal and vector magnetic field over the entire visible solar disk, Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) which measures the Sun's extreme ultraviolet irradiance and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) which provides continuous full-disk observations of the solar chromosphere and corona in seven extreme ultraviolet (EUV) channels.

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First Published Date: 01 Jun, 10:57 IST
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