Yesterday, the Sun exploded with energy, launching a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space and directly towards Earth. The wave of charged particles from the Sun is now expected to impact Earth's upper atmosphere sometime Saturday evening, which can have both positive and negative results for us here on Earth.
First up, the good: the aurora, better known as the Northern Lights.
The aurora are caused when the energized particles from the Sun come into contact with Earth's upper atmosphere. When the charged energy hits Earth, the particles react and the atoms/molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere give off the photons we see as the Northern Lights. Why are the lights different colors? Each individual atom gives off a different glowwhen excited by the incoming solar wind.
For us living in the Northern hemisphere, auroras are common in high latitudes such as Alaska, Canada, the Scandinavian countries, and other such high-latitude places. For those at mid latitudes, such as Cleveland's 41 degrees North, auroras don't find their way into these skies very often, which will probably be the case with this storm, which is set to hit Earth this evening.
However, it never hurts to look.
Right now, the Sun is headed for solar maximum, the peak in activity in its 11-year cycle. Because blasts of energy from the Sun are sure to become more powerful and frequent in the future, the chances of aurora working their way down to the continental United States is sure to increase in the coming years. In May, 2005, I saw a stunning display of auroras that ranged from blue-violet overhead to green curtains near the horizon from the Cleveland, Ohio area.
So how about the coming days?
Unfortunately, predicting aurora, and more specifically, where exactly they will appear, is very much a guessing game. Right now, experts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab are simply stating that there is possibility for a strong geomagnetic storm this weekend when the CME impacts Earth's atmosphere. . To help one's odds of seeing the Northern Lights, sign up for Spaceweather's phone alert system, which can be set to call you when aurora are predicted to be visible over your location, wherever that may be.
As the last part of the puzzle, be sure to keep an eye on the Cleveland weather forecastand, for hour-by-hour cloud predictions, the Cleveland Clear Sky Clock. The good news: at least in the Cleveland area, thins are looking to be clear Saturday night, exactly when the CME will be impact the atmosphere. Live somewhere else? Find a clockand see if it will be clear near you.
Now part 2, the bad: electronic malfunctions.
As the Sun becomes more active as it nears solar maximum, the chances for Earthly impacts of solar storms increases dramatically. When the highly-charged particles of the solar wind hit our upper atmosphere, they interact with Earth's magnetic field, causing disruptions in electronic communications and power grids. One job for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is to keep an eye on solar weather which, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco warns, could have dire effects for us on Earth.
So, if the Sun has always gone through an 11-year cycle of activity, why all the panic now?
Answer: the concern comes from our way of life. When the Sun was at its last peak period in the early 2000s, we were nowhere near as reliant on satellites as we are today. Think back to 2001, far fewer people had a cellphone in their pocket, a GPS unit in their car, and satellite TV in their house. Now, while losing anyone of these conveniences (imagine having to actually read a map!) would be a minor irritation, the fact that solar storms can damage power grids can have massive implications.
In March 1989 (during the Sun's maximum 2 cycles ago) a massive solar storm knocked out power over a large section of Canada. The frightening fact, in the larger scheme of things, this stormwasn't that big, certainly not the perfect solar super storm. Worst case scenario: if transformers and capacitors were really fried, power could be out for months, essentially transporting us back to the pre-industrial age.
Hopefully, neither you nor a relative will be in a hospital if that ever happens.
The good news is that, while our technology is making us more susceptible to the impact of solar activity, it can also help prevent the problem. As scientists learn more about the solar wind and what it can do, more protections can be built-in to our electronics to better ensure that they don't get fried by a powerful blast of solar energy.
Either way, solar maximum is rapidly approaching, which means that we had better prepare, anyway.
For more info:
All about the Lights
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