According to the China Meteorological Administration, geomagnetic activity may occur on March 24, 25 and 26, of which geomagnetic storms above moderate or even geomagnetic storms may occur on March 25, and geomagnetic activity is expected to continue until the 26th.
Under this influence, the space station may be dragged by the atmosphere to cause the orbital altitude to decrease, the positioning error of satellite navigation equipment to increase, aviation flight will face the dual risk of deterioration of the communication environment and radiation across the polar region, for the public, especially pigeon players and aurora enthusiasts, in the next few days to always pay attention to space weather information.
The coronal mass ejection (CME) process took place almost directly opposite the Earth, so that the eruption forms a circular surface, which is what we have previously referred to as a "total halo". The solar material ejected by such explosive activities is fast and covers a high degree of coverage relative to the Earth, which may cause relatively strong geomagnetic activity. From the point of view of watching the aurora show, aurora lovers will see a beautiful sight, and from another point of view, for the majority of carrier pigeon players, it is necessary to minimize adverse weather conditions and long-distance driving activities in the coming days.
What is a geomagnetic storm?
As the most typical solar eruption activity, a coronal mass ejection process can throw hundreds of millions of tons of solar material off the surface of the sun at a high speed of hundreds of kilometers per second, not only the kinetic energy of the huge mass and velocity convergence, but also the powerful magnetic field energy of the sun, once it hits the earth, it will cause a change in the direction and magnitude of the geomagnetic field, that is, a geomagnetic storm.
With the gradual intensification of magnetic storm activity, the Earth's upper atmosphere is continuously heated, and then expands and spreads into higher space, which creates additional drag for the spacecraft to fly in orbit, resulting in a deceleration effect similar to dragging, reducing the orbital altitude of the spacecraft, and the reduction of altitude corresponds to a denser atmospheric environment, which will further bring greater flight resistance, so that the flight speed is slowed down - the altitude is reduced - the drag is greater - further deceleration - The vicious circle of faster altitude reduction poses a great threat to the safety of spacecraft.
Last December, a geomagnetic storm brought auroras to many places
On November 30, 2023, the China Meteorological Administration and the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center predicted that geomagnetic storms may occur on November 30, December 1, and 2, 2023, of which geomagnetic storms above moderate or even geomagnetic storms may occur on December 1, and geomagnetic activities are expected to continue until December 2. Affected by geomagnetic storms, auroral activity has occurred in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other places in mainland China, and even Beijing has clear aurora sightings and observation records.
On December 1, 2023, an aurora appeared in Mohe, Heilongjiang. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Mohe Municipal Party Committee
Source: CCTV news client, People's Daily WeChat, China Meteorology