Sunday's X-class Solar Storms

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Angry sunspots continue to rumble

 

"The current groups of sunspots are among the largest seen in years -

10 times larger than the surface of the Earth - and two regions,

designated "484" and "486", produced X-class (the most powerful)

events on Sunday."

 

Two big explosions were seen on Sunday

Giant sunspots remain visible on our star and could continue to hurl

many billions of tonnes of superhot gas in our direction, say solar

scientists.

On Sunday, two so-called coronal mass ejections blasted material away

from the spots and may yet give Earth's magnetic defences a glancing

blow.

 

The surge of charged particles could affect orbiting satellites, and

ground based communication and power systems.

 

At the very least, strong auroras should be seen at high latitudes.

 

 

Crew return

 

These Northern and Southern Lights are generated when fast-moving

particles (electrons and protons) ejected from the Sun get trapped in

the magnetic field around the Earth, and collide with the gases in

the upper atmosphere.

 

Experts on space weather say auroras are possible in the United

States, Canada, southern Australia, New Zealand, and much of Europe

as well.

 

The increased solar activity of recent days is being monitored by

mission controllers looking after the International Space Station.

 

The current Expedition 7 crew - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko

and US space agency (Nasa) astronaut Ed Lu - is due to return to

Earth on Tuesday along with Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque.

 

But flight officials are confident radiation levels will not prevent

the planned de-orbit.

 

Big explosions

 

"As part of our normal support of International Space Station

operations, we continually monitor solar activity levels," said Mike

Golightly, manager of the space radiation analysis group at Nasa's

Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

"To date the recent eruptions, or coronal mass ejections, have not

resulted in any additional radiation exposure to the crew, nor is any

increase expected from these events," he said.

 

The source of the current activity is some very large sunspots -

darker, cooler areas on the Sun where the solar magnetic field pokes

through the solar surface.

 

Instabilities in these spots can lead to huge explosions of gas and

charged particles.

 

The current groups of sunspots are among the largest seen in years -

10 times larger than the surface of the Earth - and two regions,

designated "484" and "486", produced X-class (the most powerful)

events on Sunday.

 

Sensitive chips

 

What impact these explosions will have on Earth will depend on how

much of their force strikes the planet head on.

 

Experts say there could be blackouts in some radio frequencies. And

while TV and broadcast radio stations are much less affected by such

conditions, ground-to-air, ship-to-shore, and amateur radio systems

could be quite badly hit.

 

Some orbiting satellites could be in the firing line, too. The mass

of electrons contained in these surges can damage onboard microchips.

Operations may need to be temporarily suspended to protect sensitive

equipment.

 

Advice to spacecraft owners will come from space weather forecasters

with access to the fleet of probes that have been specially built to

monitor solar activity and withstand its effects - probes such as

Europe's Cluster spacecraft and the European/US Soho satellite.

 

These provide real-time information about Sun activity and can give

many hours' notice of a change in space weather conditions.