The National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center issued a red warning for geomagnetic storms at 9 o'clock on the 11th: geomagnetic storms will occur from 23 o'clock on May 10, 2024, Beijing time, and the maximum level will reach the level of ultra-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.
Affected by geomagnetic storms, from the evening of May 10 to the early morning of May 11, gorgeous auroras appeared in many places around the world. In particular, a photographer successfully captured the stunning aurora in Altay, Xinjiang, which is the strongest aurora event in the region in 20 years.
The occurrence of geomagnetic storms is closely related to solar activity. Since May, with the emergence of large sunspots on the sun's surface, the sun has continued to erupt violently, with 10 X-class flares and more than 60 M-class flares erupting in just one week, and the intensity and frequency of outbreaks are rare in history. The National Space Science Center predicts that the geomagnetic field will produce a strong disturbance on May 11, Beijing time, and may reach the level of a geomagnetic storm.
Geomagnetic storms: Creating beauty also brings danger
The Earth's magnetic field is supposed to protect the Earth from various "shocks" from the universe. However, when a high-speed solar wind blows on the Earth, or when a coronal mass ejection caused by a solar eruption affects the Earth, it will cause the Earth's magnetic field to change drastically in a short period of time. If the geomagnetic field changes by more than a certain value, geomagnetic storms are unavoidable.
During a geomagnetic storm, energetic particles fall from space, striking the air and causing it to glow, resulting in the formation of auroras. Of course, geomagnetic storms bring more than just colorful auroras, but can also be harmful.
1
Aerospace
Geomagnetic storms are actually the disturbance of the earth's magnetic field, which will drive the movement of particles in the earth's upper atmosphere to intensify, and eventually cause the atmosphere as a whole to be heated and expand and spread to higher space, thereby causing greater flight resistance to spacecraft flying in space and threatening the safety of spacecraft in orbit.
2
Navigational communication
In the event of a geomagnetic storm, the ionosphere tends to be strongly disturbed, which can interfere with terrestrial communications and satellite signals, which may affect the accuracy of navigation satellite systems, as well as the signal quality of mobile phones and satellite television.
3
Power system
Intense geomagnetic storms can have an impact on the power transmission system, increase the current load on the transmission line, and sometimes even cause damage to transformers or other grid facilities, causing power outages.
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What is the impact on life?
Recently, topics such as solar flares and geomagnetic storms have been on the hot search, causing concern and discussion. Some netizens said that the geomagnetic storm has brought more or less impact to their bodies.
In fact, geomagnetic storms usually have little impact on human health. However, some certain groups of people may need to be aware that it is best not to release pigeons during geomagnetic storms, because pigeons navigate through geomagnetic fields and are very affected by magnetic fields.
For the occurrence of geomagnetic storms, there is no need to panic too much, scientific researchers will use various solar observation equipment to track the eruption of the solar atmosphere in a timely manner, do a good job in space weather forecasting and early warning, selectively turn off the power grid during special periods, and adjust communication systems, aircraft routes or satellite orbits in time to minimize the impact of solar activities.
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