Solar storm hits NASA’s Goddard Space Weather Laboratory
A string of massive solar storms have unleashed their fury on the Earth in the last 48 hours, just the first set of strong solar storms expected to hit our planet in the coming months.
NASA scientists report that the most solar flare — the strongest one to date this year — erupted Friday from the same active region of the sun that triggered a raging solar tempest earlier this week.
NASA’s Goddard Space Weather Center said the latest coronal mass ejection (CME) was moving at almost 1,553 miles per second, warning that it could cause a number of disruptions. …
The solar storm, which is just the latest to bombard Earth, has put on a show for stargazers and astronomers alike. The solar storms have also caused a bit of havoc for NASA, which had to take into consideration astronauts working on the International Space Station. The mass of energy poses problems to astronauts and spacecraft, which do not have the added protection of the Earth’s magnetic field.
The solar storms have also caused problems for airlines, which as a safety precaution have rerouted flights flying over the North Pole. The resulting streams of radiation that bounce across the Earth’s magnetic field are able to cause long lasting radiation storms that could also impact satellite and ground communications systems.