Solar storm warning; Direct hit on Earth expected by snake-like filament, blackouts feared | Tech News

Solar storm warning; Direct hit on Earth expected by snake-like filament, blackouts feared

Space science expert predicts that a massive Solar storm could hit Earth directly and cause damage to communications and GPS blackout.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Jul 18 2022, 17:28 IST
Solar storm
Solar storm can cause GPS blackout on Earth. (NASA)
Solar storm
Solar storm can cause GPS blackout on Earth. (NASA)

A few days back a giant sunspot erupted on the solar surface that has left scientists and researchers worried about a possible geomagnetic storm directed at Earth. On Friday, a massive solar flare was reported to cause radio blackouts in many parts of the world. And now, Dr. Tamitha Skov- the "Space Weather Woman," has predicted a solar storm to directly hit Earth on Tuesday, July 19. Taking to her social media handle, she shared that a snake-like filament was launched as a big solar storm while in the Earth-strike zone. She tweeted, “Direct Hit! A snake-like filament launched as a big #solarstorm while in the Earth-strike zone. NASA predicts impact early July 19. Strong #aurora shows possible with this one, deep into mid-latitudes. Amateur #radio & #GPS users expect signal disruptions on Earth's nightside.”

In another post, she shared that the upcoming solar storm could be of G2 or G3 level. She wrote, “The long snake-like filament cartwheeled its way off the #Sun in a stunning ballet. The magnetic orientation of this Earth-directed #solarstorm is going to tough to predict. G2-level (possibly G3) conditions may occur if the magnetic field of this storm is oriented southward!”

The Geomagnetic storms are measured on "G scale" from 1 to 5 with G1 being minor and G5 being extreme. This means, a disturbance in radio frequency or power grid blackouts or communication blackouts could be seen in some parts of the world.

It seems to be a pretty busy year for solar activities as the Sun has been quite volatile and is throwing up filaments and brewing sunspots and some of them have even hit our planet as well without causing any damage so afer except generate the beautiful auroras. Earlier in March 2022, Earth was hit by a geomagnetic storm. And just a few days back, a G1-class geomagnetic storm hit Earth, creating bright auroras over Canada. However, these geomagnetic storms didn't cause any harm.

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First Published Date: 18 Jul, 17:27 IST
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