Responsible for these solar storms is the relatively recently formed active region AR3165 on the Sun’s surface, an area where distortions in the Sun’s magnetic field eject fragments of the Sun’s outer layer, that is, electrically charged particles that can be directed toward Earth. But there is no need to worry, because there have already been publications reporting on future geomagnetic storms and other miracles!

Fortunately, here on Earth we have a natural shield to protect us from these extremely dangerous particles: the Earth’s magnetic field traps the particles and prevents them from passing through the atmosphere. I pray as much as possible, because in some situations the Earth’s magnetic field can be overloaded, and then these energetic and electrically charged particles end up disrupting power distribution networks or radio communications, including the operation of some satellites, such as GPS, for example.

The interaction between the Sun’s charged particles and the Earth’s magnetic field also creates the spectacular aurora, an atmospheric phenomenon usually seen at high latitudes, and when solar storms are of high intensity, the aurora can be seen even at an altitude of 45-50°. degrees During one of the strongest solar storms, which occurred in 1859, the aurora borealis could be seen even from equatorial regions.

Unfortunately for the show and fortunately for the satellites, the 8 solar storms in the last few days were M class, meaning they weren’t among the strongest. But we have no mechanism to predict when the next X-class solar storm will occur, meaning it is potentially dangerous to satellites or will seriously disrupt radio communications on Earth.

Satellites in space studying the Sun can see us days before the particles (usually protons and electrons) reach Earth because they travel much slower than the speed of light. And they also help us classify these events.

The Sun creates several such coronal mass ejections (named after the place where they form, in the solar corona, the outer layer of the Sun, in English – Coronal Mass Ejection) every day, but not all of them are directed to Earth, and this does not necessarily cause problems for electronic systems here or in orbit.

Solar storms are divided into 5 classes: Class A, B, and C are relatively harmless, followed by Class M, and the most powerful solar storms are Class X. Each class has 9 subdivisions, so a class X1 solar storm is stronger than a class M9.

In February 2022, a batch of newly launched Starlink satellites were killed by a solar storm: they were not directly affected by charged particles from the Sun, but intense solar activity usually causes the Earth’s atmosphere to expand, which becomes denser at higher altitudes. ; Starlink satellites are usually launched into a low orbit, from where they are later raised to a nominal altitude using on-board engines.

However, in February 2022, 40 newly launched satellites failed to climb above 500 km because the density of the atmosphere at the altitude where they were launched quickly made their orbits unstable and the satellites returned destructively through the atmosphere. .

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