Solar storm, solar flare, and CME: Do they all impact the Earth? NASA reveals the truth
Photo Credit: Pexels While we know that some solar activity, like solar storms, solar flares, and CME impact the Earth but what about the other types of solar disturbances? Read here to know all about it.
Photo Credit: NASA There are four main components of solar activity associated with space weather. Four of them are solar flares, coronal mass ejections that lead to solar storms, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles.
Photo Credit: NASA Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.
Photo Credit: NASA This is because flares are made of photons, they travel out directly from the flare site, so if we can see the flare, we can be impacted by it.
Photo Credit: NASA Coronal mass ejections also known as CMEs are large clouds of plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun.
Photo Credit: NASA Only when the cloud is aimed at Earth will the CME hit Earth and therefore cause solar storms.
Photo Credit: NASA The high-speed solar wind streams orient from areas on the Sun that are known as coronal holes.
Photo Credit: NASA When the coronal holes are closer to the solar equator, then the winds they produce impact the Earth.
Photo Credit: NASA When a CME cloud Plows through the solar wind, high-velocity solar energetic particles can be produced, and because they are charged, they must follow the magnetic field lines that pervade the space between the Sun and the Earth.
Photo Credit: NASA The charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect the Earth will result in direct impact.
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