Solar Flare Erupts, Creating Spectacular Images
GREENBELT, Md. (WJZ) -- It's only a coincidence but our current heat wave comes on the heels of a massive explosion on the sun.
While that solar blast doesn't affect our weather, Alex DeMetrick reports eruptions on the sun can have an impact on the Earth and us.
Just looking up, you would never see it. But early Tuesday, using a new satellite, scientists saw a spectacular explosion on the sun---a blast the size of 500 Earths.
"One of the things that's so exciting about this event is just the scale of it, because it fits over almost half the sun, bombarding it with this material," said NASA Astrophysicist Dr. Alex Young.
Viewed in a variety of different light waves, much of what was thrown out was drawn back to the sun's surface but most of what was ejected is streaming out at millions of miles an hour.
"Fortunately, this event is sort of diverted off to the side so there is some material traveling toward the Earth. Most of it is directed away so it's going to be kind of a glancing blow," Young said.
That will likely mean Northern Lights for some, but little else. It's a different story when blasts called coronal mass ejections hit the earth head on, stretching its protective magnetic field like a rubber band.
"This could knock out power grids. This could cause the deterioration of pipelines. We also could see disturbances in GPS systems and various types of telecommunications," Young said.
When it comes to weathering solar storms on earth, the more warning, the better. NASA researchers have been building and launching ever more advanced solar observatories and closely monitoring them, especially as the sun moves into a more active phase.
"We'll have a couple of days' warning. We'll be able to prepare for it," Young said.
The sun goes through 11-year cycles of quiet and increased activity. That more active cycle is underway now.
