Astronomers: Spectacular geomagnetic storms to continue until next summer
The geomagnetic storm, which brought vibrant northern lights on Thursday, could see more occurrences in the coming months as the sun has reached the peak of its activity cycle. However, solar flares that disrupt people's daily lives remain extremely rare.
Mihkel Pajusalu, associate professor of space technology at the University of Tartu, noted that Thursday night's geomagnetic storm was weaker in intensity compared to the storm that hit Earth in May of this year. Nevertheless, its strength reached a significant G4 level.
"Technically speaking, the storm is still ongoing, but it has since weakened a bit. It reached the forecasted G4 level but has now subsided to G3," Pajusalu said.
According to Pajusalu, more geomagnetic storms can be expected in the near future, and they may occur fairly frequently, as the sun is currently at the peak of its 11-year magnetic activity cycle, which will continue into next year. During this period, the sun's magnetic poles switch places.
Tõnis Eenmäe, a stellar physics researcher at Tartu Observatory, believes that the peak of solar activity will last until the summer of next year. However, he noted that it is not possible to predict individual geomagnetic storms long-term. What can be said is that during this time, such storms will occur more frequently than average.
Researcher Tõnis Eenmäe added that solar flares can be very strong, but the ejected material doesn't always reach Earth or only grazes it, failing to cause a significant geomagnetic storm. "This time, we got hit directly," he said.
According to Eenmäe, strong geomagnetic storms can disrupt the operation of electronic devices near the poles. However, since these areas are sparsely populated, most people do not experience such disturbances. He mentioned that powerful geomagnetic storms during the 20th century caused notable damage, such as in Canada's electrical grid. Since then, the construction of power grids has better accounted for the effects of solar storms.
"As you move closer to the equator, the effects of geomagnetic storms on power grids are smaller. These storms are not strong enough to burn out mobile phones in your pocket or fry home electronics connected to the grid. That would require much more energy, like a lightning strike," he explained.
"However, in very large power grids with long transmission lines, significant electric currents can form when magnetic field changes occur," he added.
Eenmäe also emphasized that, contrary to widespread belief, geomagnetic storms have no impact whatsoever on people's physical or mental health.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski