The winds, which consist of a stream of charged particles (mostly protons, electron, and alpha particles), have caused a global geomagnetic storm watch to be issued for the latter half of the week, with forecasters keeping a close eye on the winds that are heading our way. The particles that head Earth’s way and collide with the atmosphere cause geomagnetic storms, which can knock out radios and satellites while triggering attractive aurora borealis displays that are famous in Arctic climates when these coronal ejections happen.
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A photo of the “coronal hole” (below) was taken by a camera aboard the space agency’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on October. 10. This can be attributed to an existence on relatively cooler areas of the Sunday.
Scientists found a large solar storm in 2003 similar to the largest on record went virtually undetected. As a result, we can expect more but for now, minor geomagnetic storming. To obviate this risk, scientists have devised several indices that could help both in the analysis and prediction of the phenomenon. Scientists can track the effects of large solar storms by using these two indices wherein latitude (the angular distance to the equator) is the prevailing data in magnetic records.
Another method, called SYM-H, measures the horizontal component of Earth’s magnetic field using more observatories and taking measurements more frequently-once every minute.
“One of the conclusions is that the indices commonly used by scientists -such as Dst or SYM-H, which are based on an overall perspective of the Earth and obtained by calculating averages, – failed to detect such an important event, and they most likely would have failed to detect the Carrington Event as well”, said Consuelo Cid, the lead author. Thus, we ordinary folks can only hope to observe one during a solar eclipse.
The researchers suggest developing local indices, which can be useful to regional companies affected by solar storms, such as electric companies.
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Similar indices “could be used in neighboring countries, such as Portugal, France and Italy”, she said.
