Big solar storm heading towards Earth

• Taycat wrote on 2014-09-12 10:07

  (CNN) -- This is not your usual weather forecast. Big storms are brewing. Your umbrella won't help, but you might want to keep a flashlight handy.
  
  These storms are coming from the sun. It's raining down a huge amount of radiation. We're safe, but it could affect power grids, radios and satellites.
  
  Experts say the combined energy from two recent solar events will arrive at Earth on Saturday, prompting the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a strong geomagnetic storm watch.
  
  Wait. What kind of watch? Basically, the sun is a giant ball of gas: 92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium. Every now and then, it spits out a giant burst of radiation called a coronal mass ejection.
  
  These ejections are sometimes associated with solar flares, the most explosive events in the solar system. The sun has released two ejections in the past two days, and both are linked to solar flares. NASA says the second flare is an X1.6 class, putting it in the most intense category.
  
  The energy from those two ejections is heading toward Earth.
  
  Space weather experts aren't sure what this solar storm will do.
  
  "This is a pretty strong solar storm, and we just won't know until it gets here" what it will do, said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
  
  Earth's atmosphere usually protects us humans, but you might want to keep a flashlight handy. Solar storms can knock out power, interfere with GPS and radio communications -- including those on commercial airliners -- and damage satellites.
  
  "People on the ground really don't have to worry," said Lika Guhathakurta, a program scientist with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. She said solar storms don't affect humans on the ground, although astronauts could be at risk.
  
  And our technology.
  
  But don't worry too much. NASA can take steps to protect the crew members on the International Space Station, and satellite operators can turn off sensitive sensors on satellites to mitigate the risk to your smartphones and wi-fi connection. There may be temporary glitches, though, Guhathakurta says.
  
  And if there is a major issue, scientists are taking precautions to make sure all the important parties are prepared.
  
  "FEMA has been notified of these events just in case," Thomas Berger, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, said at a Thursday news conference.
  
  On March 13, 1989, a solar storm knocked out power for the entire province of Quebec for 12 hours. Power grids in the United States were affected but didn't have blackouts. NASA says some satellites tumbled out of control for hours during what's known as the Quebec Blackout. The space shuttle Discovery was in orbit at the time and had a mysterious sensor problem that went away after the storm, NASA says.
  
  On the upside, solar storms also create beautiful aurora. Aurora watchers in the northern United States who are outside major metropolitan areas should be watching the skies on Thursday and Friday nights.
  
  People in the southern part of the nation are less likely to get the kind of splendid aurora sights that people in the Northeast and Alaska will see, but it might not hurt for them to take a glance at the sky anyway, just in case.
  
  Although it won't be as intense a view as the one northerners will get, "if you want to take a look on Friday night, why not?" Berger said.

  
  
  Source
  
  but do we need to be worried, i ask
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-09-12 10:12

  Quote from Taycat;1246777:

  Source
  
  but do we need to be worried, i ask

  
  
  Are you an unshielded satellite?
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2014-09-12 10:47
  Sure we may lose power and internet for a couple days but other than that we'll be fine. Not the first "big solar storm" that we've experienced. As we become more technologically advanced we'll just notice the impact more and more.
• Snowie Stormflower wrote on 2014-09-12 11:10
  Since it comes from the sun, is it gonna produce a large amount of heat as wel or will that be blocked by the ozone layer?
  
  

  Quote from Kingofrunes;1246786:

  As we become more technologically advanced we'll just notice the impact more and more.

  
  
  It'll be a huge problem once we drive around in floating cars.
• Elleanior wrote on 2014-09-12 11:15
  This was originally supposed to happen last year spring. I'm surprised that it didn't happen then. But yeah, just make sure that you are prepared for a blackout that could last a few days, possibly a week, and you're good. If you really wanna be cautious, 2 weeks. It won't last longer than that.
  
  I'm going to spend a lot of that time singing to myself because of lack of music...
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2014-09-12 11:23

  Quote from Snowie Stormflower;1246788:

  Since it comes from the sun, is it gonna produce a large amount of heat as wel or will that be blocked by the ozone layer?

  
  
  The Earth's atmosphere will protect us according to scientists so I don't think that will be a concern.
• Osayidan wrote on 2014-09-12 11:32
  They keep warning us about these on the news media like if it's going to wipe out all technology. While a solar storm could technically do that, if it was a severe enough one to actually cause such a huge issue it wouldn't be the news media casually regurgitating the same old text. Instead we would either hear nothing to prevent panic, or various organizations around the world would be warning the population instead via some big press conference thingies.
  
  Most decent power grids have some level of protection against this now, especially since the blackout it caused some time ago (forgot what year it was). Other than that, maybe your GPS will be inaccurate for a little while...
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-09-12 12:18

  Quote from Osayidan;1246796:

  They keep warning us about these on the news media like if it's going to wipe out all technology. While a solar storm could technically do that, if it was a severe enough one to actually cause such a huge issue it wouldn't be the news media casually regurgitating the same old text. Instead we would either hear nothing to prevent panic, or various organizations around the world would be warning the population instead via some big press conference thingies.
  
  Most decent power grids have some level of protection against this now, especially since the blackout it caused some time ago (forgot what year it was). Other than that, maybe your GPS will be inaccurate for a little while...

  
  
  Pretty much.
  
  The magnetic fields may throw off satellite telemetry and ephemeris data but that's about it. Everything else will be protected by our atmosphere. I would recommend against unshielding ESD sensitive devices but I highly doubt that any of you guys perform component level maintenance on electronics.
  
  I'm willing to bet that a power grid somewhere will go down for an unrelated reason and everyone will lose their fucking minds over it.
• Kefka wrote on 2014-09-12 12:59
  I better start packing a bin full of Granola bars and potato chips, that is what they taught us to do in the good ol' days.
  
  Screw technology, I have the munchies.
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-09-12 20:08
  We don't need to be worried, just prepared. Don't fly high up in the sky with an electronically controlled airplane and you should be fine. The real problems are for server farms, hospitals, high tech manufacturing plants etc., those who need a constant supply of energy.
  

  Quote from Osayidan;1246796:

  They keep warning us about these on the news media like if it's going to wipe out all technology. While a solar storm could technically do that, if it was a severe enough one to actually cause such a huge issue it wouldn't be the news media casually regurgitating the same old text. Instead we would either hear nothing to prevent panic, or various organizations around the world would be warning the population instead via some big press conference thingies.
  
  Most decent power grids have some level of protection against this now, especially since the blackout it caused some time ago (forgot what year it was). Other than that, maybe your GPS will be inaccurate for a little while...

  
  1989, they mention it in the article.
  
  Apparently the strength of this is unprecedented and they're not really sure, so I wouldn't be too sure about it myself. But it's not doomsday for sure.
• Hanna wrote on 2014-09-12 20:14
  No big deal, if you're worried about this you're overreacting
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-09-12 21:09
  I see one article saying this is a storm of unprecedented size which could be similar to the solar storms of 1859 and 1921 which in today's world would cause 1-2 trillion dollars worth of damage in the US alone and take upwards of a year to fully repair.
  
  Then I see an article saying these storms are pathetic baby storms that we won't even notice.
  
  So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
• Hanna wrote on 2014-09-13 02:14
  can't see much
  just stars flickering
• Piero wrote on 2014-09-13 02:32
  When exactly is this supposed to hit
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-09-13 03:36
  Not sure why Hanna is so positive nothing could ever happen. I mean, this isn't magic mumbo-jumbo, this is science. This isn't some quasi-science Nostradamus shit, this is facts.
  
  In 1859 a solar storm like this occurred known as the Carrington Event, just like this one it was preceded by aurora visible in the skies in parts of the world you would never see one, and it was powerful enough to knock out a large number of the telegraph systems all over America and Europe. In 1921 another one came even more powerful than the one in 1859, again, preceded by aurora, and again it damaged a large number of communication systems all over the world, including telegraphs, underwater lines, and the limited electrical systems they had at the time. Scientists have estimated that there is a 12% chance another large solar storm like these will happen before 2022 and that it will cause trillions of dollars worth of damage and take upwards of a year to fully repair due to how much we depend on technology nowadays and how interconnected everything is.
  
  So no, 12% isn't a huge chance, but it's definitely enough to be worried about.
  
  

  Quote from Piero;1246956:

  When exactly is this supposed to hit

  
  
  Some time Saturday, I don't know if they've narrowed down an exact time of day yet though.