Solar Storms Rage as First CME Hits Earth, Second on the Way

Yesterday, news emerged that the Earth is expected to be hit by two distinct coronal mass ejections (CME) between July 20-22, potentially resulting in a powerful double solar storm. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has verified that the initial CME cloud has already impacted our planet. As the solar storm continues, the arrival of the second CME is anticipated within a few hours.

According to a SpaceWeather.com report, “A CME just hit Earth’s magnetic field (July 20 at 1651 UT). This is the first of two CMEs that forecasters have tracked on their way to Earth. The second should hit our planet tomorrow, July 21. The report also highlighted, that the combined effect of these two CMEs could cause a powerful geomagnetic storm at high latitudes, in the worst case the storm could even reach G3 intensity.

The solar storm will intensify today

Although the exact impact of the first CME strike is unknown, the resulting solar storm is believed to be minor. But that’s no reason to be happy, because another one can hit at any time. And if more solar wind hits the magnetosphere at the same time, the end result could be a large G3 class geomagnetic storm.

Such storms can be potentially dangerous and damage our technology infrastructure in many ways. They can jam GPS, disrupt mobile networks and the Internet, and even cause massive blackouts by corrupting power grids. Even electronic devices on Earth are not safe from malfunctions.

Astronomers will continue to monitor the CME to understand its intensity and see if things could get more complicated than they are now.

The role of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory

The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) houses a full suite of instruments for observing the Sun, and has done so since 2010. It uses three very important instruments to collect data on various solar activities. They include the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), which measures high-resolution longitudinal and vector magnetic fields across the entire visible solar disk, the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE), which measures the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation, and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which provides a continuous extreme full- and full-channel radiance channel. .