TERRIFYING! ‘Extremely rare’ farside CME blast sparks solar storm on Earth, NASA says | Tech News

TERRIFYING! ‘Extremely rare’ farside CME blast sparks solar storm on Earth, NASA says

In a rare event, an extremely powerful CME blast that took place on the farside of the Sun has hit the Earth, as per NASA. Know the solar storm threat.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Mar 14 2023, 11:35 IST
Think you know our Sun? Check out THESE 5 stunning facts
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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)
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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)
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NASA detected that a CME blast occurred on the farside of the Sun. But the shockwaves brought the particles to the Earth as well. Find out the extent of this solar storm event. (Pixabay)

A strange incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday, March 13. The NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) detected that after a huge explosion, a powerful wave of coronal mass ejection (CME) escaped from the surface of the Sun. This event should not have concerned the Earth under normal circumstances since the event took place on the farside of the Sun (the side of the Sun opposite to the Earth). However, the CME blast was deemed extremely rare as it was traveling at a mind-numbing speed of 3000 kilometers per second. The shock waves from the event pushed some of the CME particles towards the Earth as well and caused a solar storm. Check details.

The event was reported by SpaceWeather.com which reported on its website, “Something big just happened on the farside of the sun. During the early hours of March 13th, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a farside halo CME apparently leaving the sun faster than 3000 km/s…Although the CME is not Earth-directed, it has nevertheless touched our planet…Earth's magnetic field is funneling the particles toward the poles where a type of radio blackout is underway--a polar cap absorption (PCA) event”.

Farside CME blast hits Earth, causes solar storm

In order to understand just how strange this event was, it should be known that a CME cloud moving that fast only occurs about once a decade. We come across many farside CME blasts, with one taking place as soon as last week, but these never affect the planet due to being shot in the opposite direction.

However, traveling at such a high speed, these CME clouds created a shock wave, which resulted in some particles being thrown towards the Earth. These particles have accumulated towards the polar regions and a radio blackout-like condition was seen there.

The report also warned, “Airplanes flying over these regions may find that their shortwave radios won't work due to the ionizing effect of infalling protons”.

Luckily, the Earth only was hit with the residual amount of solar matter and the solar storm we experienced was a minor one. But, if this blast took place on the Earth-side, it would have created a massive destruction.

Experts believe such a high speed CME wave would have caused a solar storm which would exceed a G5-class category, much stronger than the Carrington event in 1859. This could burn down satellites, destroy Earth's wireless communication, internet cables under the ocean, cause power grid failures and damage the sensitive computers in a wide range of electronic devices.

But it is too early to celebrate. As the Sun nears the peak of its solar cycle, which is due in 2025, we may see powerful solar storms hit us in the near future.

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First Published Date: 14 Mar, 11:29 IST
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