The Earth is getting hit by a huge solar storm

A G4 Geomagnetic Storm: First Watch and First Warning for the Stellar-Field-Scale Environment, and The First Witnesses

The last time a storm like this was a big problem was the notorious Carrington Event of 1859 when a G5 geomagnetic storm knocked out telegraph machines around the world. Obviously, there are a lot more technologies we rely on today that could become vulnerable. Blackouts would not only affect homes and businesses; they could also cut off power to the network of subsea fiber optic cables that undergird the internet. Fortunately, SWPC says, there should be enough redundancy in these systems to avoid major problems. It’s still new territory.

This is the first time since 2005 that the SWPC has issued a watch for a storm rated as G4, which is the scale’s second-highest rating. The center says that critical infrastructure operators have been notified to take precautions.

Once they reach Earth, CMEs interact with our planet’s magnetic field. That can suddenly induce an electrical current into power lines, railroad tracks, pipelines, and basically any long piece of infrastructure that can conduct electricity.

A space scientist at the SWPC said during a briefing that they had not yet experience with a significant storm and cable under the sea. There would be impacts, but not to the level that would cause the disabling.

Satellites could be at risk because of changes to Earth’s atmosphere. The ionosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere, becomes more dense — creating more drag for satellites in lower Earth orbit.

The first wave of particles is already reaching the Earth. The Earth is experiencing a “Severe,” G4 storm, as declared earlier today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since 2005, this storm has hit the planet.

NOAA warns several waves of flares will slam into the Earth over the next few hours and days, potentially disrupting communications and navigation, triggering power outages, and damaging satellites.

A wave of charged particles is predicted to hit Earth’s atmosphere tonight. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center it may cause Auroras visible as far south as Northern California and Alabama.

The sun’s surface has 16 times the size of the earth’s sunspot area. The spots have magnetic fields that are strong enough to throw huge amounts of charged particles towards our planet. During the peak of the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle, Coronal Mass Ejections become more common.

The service coordinate for the Space Weather Prediction Center says that they have high confidence that the coronal mass ejections will be directed towards Earth.

There was a solar storm in 1859. The event was called the “Carrington event,” and it produced the shimmering auroras that were seen in Mexico and Hawaii. It also fried telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America.

The ionosphere contains charged particles and is likely to be disrupted by the storm. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to “bounce” signals around the globe, and those signals will likely be disrupted. The particles may also refract and otherwise scramble signals from the global positioning system, according to Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist with NOAA. The effects can last a few days after the storm.

What Should We Do in the Presence of an Infrared-Selected Solar Cyclosme? — Tuija Pulkkinen at the University of Michigan

Tuija Pulkkinen is chair of the department of climate and space sciences at the University of Michigan. Since the last solar maximum, thousands of satellites have been launched by companies such as SpaceX. The satellites will now have a different position in the sky.

The astronauts of the International Space Station should be protected because they are within the Earth’s magnetosphere. NASA did not give any information on what its astronauts would do.

In the short term, this storm will likely keep satellite operators and utilities busy, but individuals don’t need to do much to be prepared.

“As far as what the general public should be doing, hopefully they’re not having to do anything,” says Dahl. The largest problem could be a brief blackout, so keep some flashlights and a radio handy, he says.

And don’t forget to look up, says Steenburgh. This event could create auroras that are visible much further south than usual. A faint aurora can be detected by a modern cell phone camera, he adds, so even if you can’t see it with your eyes, try taking a photo of the sky.