The National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center issued a red warning for geomagnetic storms at 9 o'clock on May 11: geomagnetic storms will occur from 23 o'clock on May 10, 2024, Beijing time, and the maximum level will reach the level of super geomagnetic storms (Kp=9), and it is expected that the magnetic storm process will continue in the next 24 hours, and geomagnetic storms may still occur in the future.
Under the influence of geomagnetic storms, the ionosphere will be disturbed in most parts of the continent, and shortwave communication and navigation and positioning will be affected to varying degrees. A significant increase in the density of the upper atmosphere will lead to an increase in the orbital attenuation of low-orbit satellites. The National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center will closely track the development of the event and release forecast and early warning information in a timely manner.
━━━━━
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 carry the sun's strong magnetic field energy, once it hits the earth, it will cause a change in the direction and magnitude of the geomagnetic field, that is, a geomagnetic storm.
▲The two "pretentious" solar activity regions before the outbreak of coronal mass ejections (CME) Xihe satellites
━━━━━
Why do geomagnetic storms cause auroras?
During a geomagnetic storm, energetic particles fall from space, striking the air and causing it to glow, resulting in the formation of auroras.
▲Schematic diagram of the interaction of the solar energetic particle stream (solar wind) on the Earth's periphery/geomagnetic field
Microscopic energy exchange occurs during the high-speed collision of molecules and atoms in the air with the sun's matter. Take oxygen atoms as an example, they will receive a share of energy from the impact, but due to the characteristics of electrons outside the nucleus, only a certain amount of energy can be contained between the electrons and the nucleus, and the excess part will be released again, and the form of release is luminescence.
▲Affected by the last geomagnetic storm, on the evening of December 1, 2023, auroral activity occurred in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other places in the mainland. Photo/Netinfo Mohe Weibo
━━━━━
How do geomagnetic storms affect us?
Experts say that high-energy particles interfere with the earth's magnetic field to produce geomagnetic storms, which have little impact on human health, but will have an impact on human life. For example, it will affect the propagation of radio waves, interfere with radio communications, affect the navigation of airplanes and ships, and even affect mobile phone signals; Energetic particles can also cause damage to artificial vehicles such as satellites and space stations, leading to malfunctions. Strong geomagnetic storms can also have an impact on power transmission (closed loop) systems and may even cause damage to transformers or other grid facilities, causing power outages.
In addition, geomagnetic storms can also have an impact on some biological activities. Pigeons, for example, rely on the Earth's magnetic field for their positioning and flight, and are therefore also affected by geomagnetic storms.
Experts say geomagnetic storms can now be predicted several days in advance based on solar activity. This gives us some warning time to take steps to protect our infrastructure from the severe impacts of geomagnetic storms.
━━━━━
What are the effects of historically strong geomagnetic storms?
- 1859
The largest known scientifically recorded geomagnetic storm and aurora event was the Carrington event of 1859, which caused the melting of telegraph equipment in parts of Europe and eight days of severe space weather. Due to the reliance on steam engines and labor, and the absence of artificial satellites, radio communications, and modern power transmission networks, solar storms did not bring too much disaster to the Earth.
- 1989
A super geomagnetic storm in March 1989 completely paralyzed Canada's Quebec power grid, taking power to recover in nine hours in most areas. The incident also damaged Australia's oil pipelines and caused high-voltage pulses on submarine cables in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; The U.S. GOES-7 satellite lost half of its solar cells, cutting its lifespan in half; The Japanese communications satellite CS-3B is abnormal, and the backup command circuit on the satellite is damaged.
- 1990
On July 9, 1990, Europe and North America were hit by a geomagnetic storm, which caused a series of problems such as spacecraft and satellite failures, flight delays, and power failures.
- 2003
Between the end of October and the beginning of November 2003, a series of strong eruptions occurred on the Sun, causing great disturbances in the space environment of the Sun and Earth. As a result, a rare aurora appeared over central California, USA; About half of the satellites failed, and Japan's Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-2 (ADEOS-2) failed completely; Communications around the world were disrupted, the maritime emergency call system was paralyzed, and the communications of the Everest expedition were interrupted; reduced GPS accuracy; Electricity supply to 50,000 people in Sweden was disrupted.
Source | National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center, CCTV News, Popular Science China, Guangming Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Beijing Daily, Beijing News
Executive Producer | Li Jinfeng, Li Jiemin
Editor-in-Chief | Di Xiaojing, Chen Chen
Edit | Du Hui
Dream big and keep your feet on the ground. Click to follow Elephant News for more high-quality information.
Reply to [Client] to get the download channel of the Elephant client
Reply to [Help] to get help from the Elephant Gang media
Reply to [Mall] Elephant Mall high-quality and good things are waiting for you