Substantial progress has been made in issuing solar storm alerts to protect technology on Earth
Scientists say it is now possible to predict the exact speed at which a coronal mass ejection (CME) will travel and when it will hit our planet, even before it has completely left the Sun.
Solar storms will soon be predicted more accurately than ever thanks to a breakthrough in understanding the exact moment when a violent solar eruption can hit the Earth.
Scientists affirm that it is now possible to predict the exact speed at which a coronal mass ejection (CME) moves and when it will impact our planet, even before it has completely risen from the Sun.
CMEs are explosions of gas and magnetic fields that the solar atmosphere throws into space.
They can cause geomagnetic storms capable of wreaking havoc on Earth's technology, both in the Earth's orbit and on its surface, which is why experts from all over the world strive to improve space weather forecasts.
Advances around the "critical height" of the Active Regions
The new findings were recently presented by researchers from the University of Aberystwyth at the National Astronomy Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society. It is hoped that they can contribute enormously to protecting vital infrastructures for our daily life.
The discovery occurred after studying specific areas of the Sun called "active regions", which have intense magnetic fields where MECs are born. The researchers observed how these areas changed before, during and after a rash.
A vital aspect they observed was the "critical height" of the Active Regions, which is the height at which the magnetic field becomes unstable and can lead to a CME.
"Measuring how the intensity of the magnetic field decreases with height, we can determine this critical height," explained the principal investigator, Harshita Gandhi, a solar physicist at the University of Aberystwyth.
"These data can then be used together with a geometric model that serves to track the actual speed of CME in three dimensions, instead of just two, which is essential to make accurate predictions."
And he added: "Our findings reveal a strong relationship between the critical height at the beginning of the CME and the real speed of the CME. This information allows us to predict the speed of the CME and, consequently, its time of arrival on Earth, even before the CME has erupted."
The importance of generating early alerts that mitigate the impacts of solar storms
Accurate speed predictions allow you to better estimate when a CME will reach the Earth, providing crucial prior alerts.
Geomagnetic storms not only have the potential to generate beautiful shows of auroras in the sky, but also disorders in vital systems on which we depend on a daily basis, such as satellites, electrical networks and communication networks.
"Our research not only improves our understanding of the Sun's explosive behavior, but also significantly improves our ability to predict spatial meteorological phenomena," Gandhi concluded.
Reference of the news:
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/new-dawn-space-storm-alerts-could-help-shield-earths-tech