A ‘cannibal’ solar storm hits Earth

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) reported that the sun recorded 17 outbursts in the same region, two of which affected our planet last night, April 1, at more than 3 million kilometers per hour. .

According to NOAA Space Weather, this solar storm, also called AR2975, is a Category 3 storm and as catastrophic as it may sound, it can only cause northern lights for several days.

G3 Now watched March 31 due to the combined effects of CME. Also, the G1 Watch is in place on March 30 due to the arrival of the CME Shock and the G2 Watch on April 1 due to ongoing CME effects. visit https://t.co/4CNTc1qJlT For the latest information and https://t.co/PuIgIldyfa for the story. Tweet embed Tweet embed pic.twitter.com/ftMJaqgfjU

– NOAA Space Weather (NWSSWPC) March 29, 2022

For its part, Live Science explained that cannibal storms occur when “fast-moving solar flares outpace previous flares in the same region of space, pulling charged particles together to form a combined giant wave front that results in a powerful geomagnetic storm.”

In its NASASun account, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration explains that solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation that cannot pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and physically affect humans, however, when severe enough, they can cause problems with GPS. and telecommunications signals.

The sun released a medium-level solar flare on March 31, 2022 that peaked at 2:35 PM ET. An image of the event was taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which is classified as a Category M glow. https://t.co/rt2v62XkJl pic.twitter.com/MqqqR2YAdu

– NASA Sun and Space (@NASASun) March 31, 2022