Solar Storm 2012 Expected to Deal Damage to Earth

Photo Courtesy of Reuters/NASA
Picture of Solar Storm 2012 captured by NASA

By Vincent Funaro , Christian Post Reporter

January 23, 2012|4:36 pm

The sun is currently experiencing what is the strongest solar storm since 2005 causing it to deal a significant amount of radiation to the Earth.

This solar flare began around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday and is expected to hit the Earth three different times with three different effects. Radiation being the most dangerous of these, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado (NOAA).

This radiation can cause various satellite disruptions and also disturb astronauts in space. It can create problems with communication for polar-traveling airplanes as well.

The radiation given off from the storm began hitting the Earth just an hour later after it began and should continue into Wednesday. The levels are considered to be strong, but past storms have been worse. However, this storm is the most powerful one of its kind since 2005, according to NOAA.

This radiation approached the Earth at 93 million miles per hour, according to space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker.

"The whole volume of space between here and Jupiter is just filled with protons and you just don't get rid of them like that," he said. "That's why the effects will stick around for a couple of days."

NASA's flight surgeons have accessed that the six astronauts on the International Space Station do not have anything to protect themselves from the radiation, said Rob Navias, a spokesman for the space agency.

Antii Pulkkinen, a physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Catholic University described a solar eruption as a one-two-three punch. He outlined the path it takes while first comes electromagnetic radiation, followed by radiation in the form of protons.

The storm finished with the coronal mass ejection that consists of plasma from the sun. This matter usually travels at around 1 or 2 million miles per hour. However, this storm differs in strength since its speed is nearly double that of an average one at 4 million miles per hour.