“Shielding Our Skies: Enhancements in Defense Against Solar Flares for Satellites, Power Grids, and Aircraft”

• Solar flares release solar particles, which pose a danger to astronauts, satellites, electrical grids, and aircraft.
• Additionally, they are extremely difficult to forecast in advance.
• Researchers presume they understand the origin of these particles, which may assist astronomers in better predicting solar flares that threaten Earth and its technology.

From time to time, the Sun emits a solar flare that leaves Earth’s crucial infrastructure anxious. One instance is the ‘Carrington Event’ of 1859, when a significant solar storm resulted in the failure of telegraphic systems across Europe and the United States. Another example is the 1989 extensive power outage in Quebec.Determining when a solar flare will occur could better prepare Earth against solar storms and minimize risks to human safety. In what might be a breakthrough in this area of study, a recent investigation by astronomers at University College London (UCL) and George Mason University may at least indicate where to direct further inquiry.

An M2 (medium-sized) solar flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from a large active region of the sun on 14 July 2017. According to NASA, the flare persisted for nearly two hours, which is quite a lengthy duration.

So what exactly are we discussing?
Despite the Sun’s distance of 149.6 million kilometers, potentially hazardous solar particles emitted in these flares have been known to incapacitate satellites and induce citywide blackouts. They also present radiation hazards to astronauts and compromise the navigational systems of airplanes and vessels.

Identifying or predicting the occurrence of these solar flares has proven to be a challenging task thus far. The recent study suggests that the source is not slow solar wind but plasma situated deep in the Sun’s outermost layer, the corona. However, the solar particles reside nearer to the middle area of the Sun’s atmosphere — the chromosphere — than to its outer layers.

Layers of the Sun (from innermost to outermost, left to right)

“Our findings lend support to theories that these highly charged particles stem from plasma that has been anchored low in the Sun’s atmosphere by robust magnetic fields,” stated co-author of the research published in Science Advances, Stephanie Yardley, in a statement. “These energetic particles, once released, are subsequently accelerated by eruptions that travel at speeds of several thousand kilometers per second.”

The risk of solar flares
A solar cycle refers to the duration it takes for the Sun’s magnetic poles to reverse. During this process, the star moves between an active and dormant phase.

While we understand that a complete cycle takes approximately 11 years, it remains impossible to anticipate when a solar event will take place until it has already happened. The potentially harmful solar particles found within these solar flares can arrive on Earth in a matter of minutes. Moreover, the event will typically persist for a few days.

The comparable data available to scientists is scarce, as records only extend back for five cycles. An analysis conducted by the University of Warwick was among the first to investigate the previous fourteen cycles and found that ‘severe’ magnetic storms occurred 42 times — averaging one every 25 years.

As per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the largest solar flare recorded happened on 2 April 2001. The explosion from the Sun projected a coronal mass ejection into space at an astounding speed of approximately 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Fortunately, the flare was not directed toward Earth.

On Monday, 2 April 2001, the Sun unleashed the greatest solar flare ever documented, as recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite.

The new solar cycle will serve as their testing ground
The researchers could identify these energized particles as they displayed the same ‘fingerprint’ as plasma sourced deep within the Sun’s corona.

To verify if their observations were accurate, these astronomers utilized events from the previous solar cycle. However, in September of last year, the star at the center of our universe began a new 11-year solar cycle.

Now, these scientists will leverage their observations to attempt to forecast when the next solar flare might transpire in the new solar cycle. “We are now commencing a new solar cycle, and once it unfolds we will employ the same methodologies to determine if our results hold true generally, or if these occurrences are in some way atypical,” stated lead author David Brooks in a statement.

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