This is how the huge solar ejection that will reach Earth on July 21 may affect

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Currently, heat wave suffered by both Spain and Europe arouses the most critical eyes of the citizen are positioned in our Sun. However, far from the fact that our star causes so much havoc, it is ours, the Sun could cause us even more problems due to to the events taking place there.

[La prodigiosa maniobra de un satélite para evitar el inesperado choque de la basura espacial]

As anticipated Futurism, On July 11, international space observatories detected a solar flare, that is to say a sudden emission of “electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles” localized in a very precise region of the solar atmosphere.

Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has videotaped a coronal mass ejection coming from the sun An ejection consists of waves made up of radiation and solar wind that detach from the sun. It is estimated that one of them will reach Earth tomorrow, Thursday July 21, opening the door to power grid fluctuations and some impact on the satellite structure of our planet.

watch out for the sun

It all starts on July 11, with the detection of the solar flare by space observatories around the world. As detailed by David Montes, full professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Gonzalo José Carracedo Carballal, doctoral student in astrophysics at the INTA-CSIC Astrobiology Center, in The conversationthis eruption came from a region of the sun where the star’s magnetic field he is very strong, making this phenomenon incredibly fast, at the speed of light.

The flares, in turn, are the result of a much larger process affecting the sun right now. And it is that this same magnetic field which was responsible for the eruption twists, projects huge amounts of solar plasma. This is called a coronal mass ejection and these, unlike flares, can reach Earth orbit in much less time, days or hours.

The calendar jumps to July 15, when one of the eruptions that had established itself throughout the week gave rise to a rather powerful coronal mass ejection. It is the one that will reach Earth tomorrow, Thursday, July 21.

These ejections are estimated to occur over periods of about 11 years, when the Sun is in its phases of greatest magnetic activity, also known as “solar maxima”. For this reason, these ejections are believed to be predominantly magnetic in nature and this current cycle is expected to peak throughout the year 2024.

What’s going to happen ?

As shown from The conversation, One of the main consequences of these ejections is high intensity polar aurora. However, it will be when this ejection comes into contact with the Earth’s magnetosphere when the first consequences are known. “The magnetosphere is compressed and interacts with it, changing its structure.”

They explain that these variations in the Earth’s magnetic field can produce electric currents, in turn generating more “complex” magnetic fields that add to the one that already exists today. These disturbances are known as geomagnetic storms and could mainly cause disruption of radio and satellite communications.

In the most extreme cases, power cuts can even occur. NOAA has established that this geomagnetic storm will be level 1, that is, the lowest level of the scale. This implies that the storm could have moderate effects on earth satellite operations and cause power grid fluctuations. Therefore, unless surprised, we should not be particularly worried.

The most intense case recorded on Earth dates back to the year 1859. Known as “the Carrington effect”, a fairly large geomagnetic storm was recorded that caused the telegraph networks of North America and Europe to fail. It occurred from August 28 of the same year, and auroras were observed that reached northern Colombia. They even produced various electrocutions and fires at its most intense, September 1 and 2.

While this geomagnetic storm is unlikely to have the same impact on July 21, it is important to point out that a similar event in today’s society would have devastating effect, be a potential catalyst for global alarm to occur.

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