Reuters
Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth
By Deborah Zabarenko
1/24/12
A geomagnetic storm was predicted to hit Earth’s magnetic field on Tuesday. This was the strongest geomagnetic storm from the past six years. This may interfere with the power grids, satellites, and the airline routes. A geomagnetic storm is when a piece of the suns atmosphere is ripped apart and fly's through space. The one that just happened was a really big piece of the atmosphere. It was being hurtled through space at around 5 million mph. Onsager said, "When it hits us, it's like a big battering ram that pushes into Earth’s magnetic field, that energy causes Earth's magnetic field to fluctuate."
This energy can also interrupt the radio that airlines use when they are up north by the north pole. A lot of the flight planes have to be changed. This storm will either be moderate or very strong.
I thought this was quite interesting. I never really knew what a geomagnetic storm was, but now I understand it. I wonder how bad this is so far. I know that this storm is going to be going on for a while, I want to know how long this will go on for. I know that they say it is a big piece of the suns atmosphere, but I want to know about how big.
wohw thats really cool, I'm a little confused though. Does this thingy ever hit ground or is it air or what?
ReplyDeleteAbby and Sofia,
ReplyDeleteThis is very cool indeed. However, may not be so cool for our communication satellites and internet communication systems, or cell phone service. This comes through our atmosphere as a magnetic interference when the solar energy hits our ionosphere. Much of it funnels in to the poles producing Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australialis. It is energy, which means it travels in waves to our atmosphere. Did you know this just happened again this week?