A truly unpleasant “gift” to our planet was prepared by the Sun to “mark” a unique event.
As early as January 5, a massive influx of solar plasma will hit Earth’s magnetic field, leading to the emergence of a not-too-strong geomagnetic storm, predict scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, write. Live Science.
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As already written FocusOn January 4, our planet came closest to the Sun this year. Today the Earth is a little more than 147 million km from the Sun, and therefore our star looks very large in the sky.
At its closest approach to the Sun, the Earth is at perihelion, which differs by about 4.8 million km from its aphelion, that is, from the point at which Earth is furthest from the star.
And on January 4, the Sun apparently decided to celebrate this unique event with a powerful coronal mass ejection. This is a stream of plasma escaping a sunspot during another flare on the Sun. Scientists expect this shower of solar particles to reach Earth’s magnetic field as early as January 5 or 6.
Collision with the Earth’s magnetic field, which protects our planet from very dangerous pulse emissions from the Sun, will result in a not-so-strong geomagnetic storm on the above days.
Such a storm can cause a brief interruption of communications on the planet and can also cause power systems to malfunction. Another consequence of the solar plasma striking the Earth’s magnetosphere would be the appearance of bright auroras, far south of their usual appearance.
According to scientists, the approach of the Earth and the Sun and the appearance of a flash of plasma on a star and a lightning bolt are an absolute accident and not a natural phenomenon.
Coronal mass ejections that cause geomagnetic storms on Earth occur in special regions on the Sun called sunspots. When magnetic field lines on the Sun’s surface get too confused and suddenly break, a flare occurs, but not always accompanied by plasma eruptions as in this case. If the sunspot is directed towards our planet, as it is now, the plasma stream flying through space at great speed hits our magnetic field.
There’s been a lot of coronal mass ejection flare on the Sun in recent months, and there’s a reason for that. The fact is that the Sun has an 11-year cycle of activity with periods of calm and maximum ascension. The latter is called the solar maximum, and our star is gradually approaching it. According to scientists, the peak of solar activity will come in July 2025, and before that, the explosions that will cause geomagnetic storms of different strengths will occur in our star.
As for Perihelion, the point where the Earth is closest to the Sun, the history of this event is constantly changing. If the planet is closest to the Sun this year on January 4, for example, the winter solstice day and perihelion day coincided in 1246 and fell on December 21. And in the year 6430, according to scientists’ predictions, the perihelion day will coincide with the day of the spring equinox on March 20.
Focus In 2022, he had already written about the most important manifestations of solar activity, which, among other things, can be felt and even seen by the inhabitants of the Earth.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.