Earth to face solar storm

The Earth faces a strong bombardment from high-energy solar particles, say scientists.


The Solar storm has been caused by a flare erupting from the Sun at 0400 GMT on Monday.


These charged particles disrupt satellites and affect astronauts, additionally causing communication problems for near-polar aircraft.


Additionally, the outpouring of the particles makes aurorae, or "Northern lights" "appear farther south than possible" (BBC News).


The BBC reports:
"Solar flares are caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's atmosphere.

In an event called a coronal mass ejection (CME), bursts of charged particles are released into space.

Nasa's Goddard Space Weather Center predicted that the coronal mass ejection was moving at almost 2,200 km/s when it was due to reach Earth's magnetosphere - the magnetic envelope that surrounds our planet - on Tuesday at 1400 GMT (plus or minus 7 hours).

This can interfere with technology on Earth, such as electrical power grids, communications systems and satellites - including satellite navigation (or sat-nav) signals.

In 1972, a geomagnetic storm provoked by a solar flare knocked out long-distance telephone communication across the US state of Illinois.

And in 1989, another storm plunged six million people into darkness across the Canadian province of Quebec.

But a spokesman for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (Noaa) Space Weather Prediction Center said the effects of this solar eruption seem likely to be moderate."