Earth faces solar storms from 2008
Solar magnetic field rising from sunspot
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Monday, 30, Apr 2007 05:03
March 2008 will see the next cycle of solar storms that can affect the Earth's communications equipment, scientists have said.
According to the forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space environment centre, the 11-year cycle is likely to peak in late 2011 or 2012.
During solar storms violent eruptions on the sun occur more frequently. These eruptions, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) shoot energetic protons and highly charged matter towards the Earth.
They then jolt the planet's geomagnetic field, potentially affecting power grids, military and airline communications and satellites among other equipment.
Despite their negative effect, from Earth this highly charged matter is evident in the beautiful forms of aurora, or northern lights, snaking across the sky in colours of red and green.
The prediction panel, led by NOAA, forecast the number of sunspots Earth should prepare itself for; the more sunspots there are, the more likely it is that major solar storms will occur.
Half the panel predicted a moderately strong cycle of 140 sunspots, plus or minus 20, expected to peak in October 2011, and the other half predicted a moderately weak cycle of 90 sunspots, plus or minus 10, peaking in August 2012.
"By giving a long-term outlook, we're advancing a new field - space climate - that's still in its infancy," said David Johnson, director of the NOAA national weather service.
"Issuing a cycle prediction of the onset this far in advance lies on the very edge of what we know about the sun."
Nasa's Stereo mission is currently capturing the sun's stormy environment to help scientists to further understand its effect on the solar system.