The flow of the solar wind directed towards the Earth

between Thursday 19 And Friday 20 January one would expect Geomagnetic storm On the Earthbecause of Kabir Coronal mass ejection (cm extension) from sun which projected a stream of Electrically charged particles for our planet. Luckily solar wind It does not point exactly in the direction of the globe, so the Earth’s magnetic field It will be partially invested by Plasma trail. For this reason, a weak-layer geomagnetic storm is expected, which is not without potential consequences.

It all started Sunday 15 Januarywhen solar observers detected a coronal mass ejection – that is, of material from the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere – caused by Class M flaresvery common at this stage of Cycle from star. In fact, for several months now, the sun has been showing amagnetic activity Fairly sustainable, linked to the fact that it is trending towards maximum peak for him 11 year cyclescheduled for the summer 2025. This stage is characterized by the presence of many sunspots and coronal ejection events, which unleash plasma streams into space. When the latter is directed towards Earth it can lead to more or less significant geomagnetic storms.

How do Explained by the specialized science portal spaceweather.comit was the region where the large volume was located that triggered the coronal mass ejection Sunspot AR3182, from which the M-class flares started, the first triggered a flux of solar wind that would hit Earth in two days, and the second, which occurred at 04:42 Italian time on Sunday, should miss the planet instead. Experts explain that the first effects of a geomagnetic storm should be felt early on Jan 18thbut fortunately it happened G1 class (weakest on a scale of five, G1 to G5) And don’t expect major problems. Scientists explain what phenomena of this kind can lead to Small disturbances to electrical lines and satellite functionsas well as possible modifications in migration behaviour some animals. Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center has not predicted these geomagnetic storm events in the coming days.

The most visible event related to G1 storms is the appearance at low latitudes Northern lightswhich is triggered by the influence of electrically charged particles of the solar wind against Earth’s magnetic field. Over the next few days, with respect to the northern hemisphere, thenorthern lights It can be observed in the cities of Seattle, Chicago and Post in the United States, while Denmark and northern England can be involved in Europe. L’Southern twilight Alternatively, it can occur in Australia and New Zealand. These bright events usually occur near the poles, where Earth’s magnetic field lines intersect.

Geomagnetic storm G5 class It is a potentially catastrophic event that experts rather fear. can do us Immerse yourself literally for weeks or months in the technological Middle Agesand destroy communications and navigation satellites, InternetAnd electrical lines And Energy infrastructure. For the time being, however, there are no imminent dangers.