Earth’s satellites, power grids, and planes may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares

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  • Solar flares contain solar particles, which pose a threat to astronauts, satellites, electrical networks and aircraft.
  • In addition, they are very difficult to predict early.
  • Scientists believe they know where these particles come from, which may help astronomers better predict solar flares that pose a threat to Earth and its technology.

From time to time, the Sun spits at solar flare which leaves on the edge the critical infrastructure of the Earth. An example is the “Carrington Event” of 1859 in which a great solar storm caused the failure of telegraph systems in Europe and America. Another is the 1989 mass blackout in Quebec.

Knowing when a solar flare will occur could help the Earth better prepare for solar storms and reduce the risk to human life. In what may be a milestone in this research, a new study by astronomers at University College London (UCL) and George Mason University could at least tell others where to look.

Earth's satellites, power grids, and planes may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
A medium-sized solar flare (M2) and a coronary mass expulsion (CME) exploded from the same large active region of the sun on July 14, 2017. According to NASA, the flare lasted nearly two hours, quite long .NASA

So what are we talking about?
Although the Sun is 149.6 million kilometers away, potentially dangerous solar particles within these flares are known to wipe out satellites and cause blackouts throughout the city. They also pose a radiation risk to astronauts and threaten them navigation aircraft and ship capabilities.

Monitoring or predicting when these solar flares will occur has proven to be an elusive effort so far. According to the new study, the source is not the slow solar wind, but the plasma located in the outermost layer of the Sun, the corona. However, solar particles are closer to the middle region of the Sun’s atmosphere – the chromosphere – than the outer edges of the Sun.

Earth's satellites, power grids, and planes may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
Layers of the Sun (from inside to inside, from left to right)NASA

“Our evidence supports theories that these highly charged particles originate from plasma that has been kept low in the Sun’s atmosphere by strong magnetic fields,” said Stephanie Yardley, co-author of the study published in Science Advances. “These energy particles, once released, are accelerated by eruptions that travel at a speed of a few thousand kilometers per second.”

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The threat of solar flares
A solar cycle is the amount of time it takes for the Sun’s magnetic poles to spin. During the process, the star transitions from an active phase to a quiet phase.

Although we know that the duration of a cycle is around 11 years, it is still impossible to see when solar energy will be produced until the fact is over. Potentially dangerous solar particles within these solar flares can reach Earth in a matter of minutes. And in all likelihood, the event will last a couple of days.

Comparable data available to scientists are limited, as records go back only five cycles. An analysis led by the University of Warwick was one of the first to study the last fourteen cycles for the first time and found that “severe” magnetic storms have occurred 42 times, that is, one every 25 years.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the largest solar flare on record is April 2, 2001. The explosion of the Sun launched an expulsion of coronal mass into space at an enormous speed of approximately 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare did not go to Earth.

Earth's satellites, power grids, and planes may have more time to prepare for the threat of solar flares
On Monday, April 2, 2001, the sun triggered the largest solar flare ever recorded, as observed by the satellite of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).NASA

The new solar cycle will be your testing ground
Scientists were able to locate these energized particles because they had the same “fingerprint” as plasma from the Sun’s corona. In order to determine if their observations were true, these astronomers used events from the last solar cycle. However, in September last year, the star at the center of our universe began a new 11-year solar cycle.

Now, these scientists will use their observations to try to predict when the next solar flare may occur in the new solar cycle. “We’re now starting a new solar cycle, and once it starts, we’ll use the same techniques to see if our results are true overall or if those events are somehow unusual,” lead author David Brooks said in a communiqué.


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