Massive Solar Storm Likely To Damage GPS, Phone Signals, Power Grids

Photo courtesy: NASA

New Delhi: A solar storm heading towards Earth is likely to hit the planet on Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to hit satellites operating in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, impacting GPS navigation, mobile phone signals and satellite TV. The flares also have the potential of affecting power grids in some parts of the world. Experts also fear that the strong winds may trigger a geomagnetic storm in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Generated at an equatorial hole that has recently popped up in the Sun’s atmosphere, it could lead to auroras on the poles as it strikes with Earth’s magnetic field, India Today reported.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

It is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the storm is the result of major changes in the currents, plasmas produced by solar winds. However, to create a geomagnetic storm, a solar wind has to sustain high speeds for a long period of time, which transfers the energy of the wind into Earth’s magnetic field, the report added.

What is a solar flare?

It is a sudden, rapid and intense explosion on the surface of the Sun that happens when massive amounts of energy stored in magnetic fields are suddenly released. The explosion emits radiation across the length and breadth of the universe, hurtling them towards planets in the solar system. These radiations contain radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays.