Biggest solar storm in yrs bombards rth

The largest solar radiation outburst in six yrs has rched rth, having hit our planet with high-energy atomic particles at around 2 pm GMT, scientists say, thrtening possible malfunction of communiion satellites and power grids.

This August 1, 2010 handout courtesy of NASA's
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows a view
of the Sun. (AFP Photo / HO / NASA)The major impact occured in the North Pole ar.
The polar zones have very little protection against outbursts of solar radiation due to the structure of rth’s magnetic field. Many airliners have been avoiding northern polar routes as the proton storm may disrupt high frequency radio communiions, NOAA's Space Wther Prediction Center physicist Doug Biesecker told Gizmodo in an interview.
High precision GPS equipment can also be affected by solar radiation. Civilians however will hardly notice any positioning errors.
The functioning of the ISS has not be affected. Taking into consideration the prognosis for the solar storm, the ISS crew has not even had to take additional radiation security msures.
Mnwhile, the Northern Lights have lit up the skies above Scotland, northern England, and Ireland, which is a rarity for the relatively southern region. The light may be visible for a few more days according to the director of the Aurora section of the British Astronomical Association, Ken Kennedy.
Massive ejections of plasma, or coronal mass, from the Sun have often resulted in communiion and other satellites, as well as ground communiions facilities failing. They can cause magnetic storms but bring no evident harm to the hlth of the planet’s population.
The first solar storm this yr was registered on January 19 by NASA’s extra-magnetospheric satellites at the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory SOHO, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory STEREO, and Advanced Composition Explorer ACE. Occurring after two storm-free months, that storm was ranked a relatively wk grade 5.
The solar tempest of today is very different. The last time a storm of such force happened was five yrs ago, in May 2005.
“For 24-25 January, we expect a magnetic storm that with a high probability can be attributed to a powerful class,” says the hd of Russia’s Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation Sergey Gaydash.
Gaydash says the new solar outburst was accompanied by a so-called ‘protonic event’ – a sharp incrse in a high-energy proton strm with speeds of up to 4 million kilometers per hour. Dangerous levels of 10-50 MeV (megaelectronvolt) protons have alrdy been exceeded, while the levels of 100 MeV protons – the most dangerous for satellites and electronic equipment – has not passed the critical threshold so far.


Source: RT