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This week’s solar storm prediction models had earlier claimed that today, July 1, was likely to be the worst affected by solar activities. The prediction is likely to come true as a coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to hit the Earth and deliver a glancing blow later today. This solar storm event is arriving after a bit of a quiet period where Earth escaped as many as three CME hits. Researchers are concerned about the intensity of the storm as well as its adverse effects on satellites and wireless communication infrastructure.
According to a report by SpaceWeather.com, “NOAA forecasters say that a CME might graze Earth’s magnetic field on July 1st. It was launched into space three days ago by an erupting magnetic filament in the sun’s northern hemisphere”. A similar report by Dr. Tamitha Skov, a space weather researcher, highlighted “A chance for #aurora due to a #solarstorm glancing blow expected early July 1”.
Solar storm expected today
This week in particular has been riddled with solar activity. The Sun witnessed two separate solar flare eruptions, among which one was an X-class flare eruption. Two radio blackouts also followed these eruptions and affected regions in Northern America. This CME cloud escaped the Sun after the second flare eruption and has almost reached the Earth after three days.
The NOAA prediction suggests that the eventual storm will be of a G1-class geomagnetic storm, which is considered to be quite minor. Such solar storms may not be strong enough to affect mobile networks or damage satellites, they can still cause radio blackouts and disrupt GPS signals. And things can be worsened if these CME clouds pick up solar winds on their way and combine with it to spark terrifying solar storms.
NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite’s role in solar storm monitoring
NOAA monitors solar storms and Sun’s behavior using its DSCOVR satellite which became operational in 2016. The recovered data is then run through the Space Weather Prediction Center and the final analysis is prepared. The different measurements are done on temperature, speed, density, degree of orientation, and frequency of the solar particles.
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