Will sun storms destroy civilization on earth?”
The current “solar tsunami” may create a dazzling aurora in the night sky — but could it also mark the beginning of a long, A large explosion on the surface of the sun on Sunday sent a tidal wave of electrically charged particles toward Earth, say scientists. While the discharge is likely to create aurora borealis–like effects in large sections of the northern sky, it may also mark the beginning of an 11-year cycle of solar storms that have the potential to cause serious disruption of technological systems. (Watch a History Channel segment on what causes sun storms.) Here’s the lowdown: Yes, and it’s the first to be directed at Earth for “quite some time,” say astronomers. It is predicted to cause a “killer light show” in northern regions of the globe, and may be visible from some parts of the United States. Also known as a solar flare, a solar storm is a series of large explosions in the sun’s atmosphere caused by magnetic instability. Sun storms have been recorded releasing as much a
A large explosion on the surface of the sun on Sunday sent a tidal wave of electrically charged particles toward Earth, say scientists. While the discharge is likely to create aurora borealis–like effects in large sections of the northern sky, it may also mark the beginning of an 11-year cycle of solar storms that have the potential to cause serious disruption of technological systems. (Watch a History Channel segment on what causes sun storms.) Here’s the lowdown: Is this week’s event a solar storm? Yes, and it’s the first to be directed at Earth for “quite some time,” say astronomers. It is predicted to cause a “killer light show” in northern regions of the globe, and may be visible from some parts of the United States. What are solar storms? Also known as a solar flare, a solar storm is a series of large explosions in the sun’s atmosphere caused by magnetic instability. “Large explosions” — how large? Sun storms have been recorded releasing as much as 6 x 10ˆ25 joules of energy — th
