Introduction

If you are interested in space science, then you must have heard about solar flares. And recently, a news was also going viral that due to solar flares, a radio signal was disturbed in Australia. On February 6, 2024, due to this incident, a shortwave radio blackout took place all over Australia. In the reporting on this news, it was said that the speed of this hot plasma coming out of the atmosphere of the sun 14,40,000 km per hour.

Even before this, in December 2023, due to a tremendous solar flare, there were problems in radio signals in the USA as well. Solar flares, i.e. headlines associated with storms and storms, are often seen. When we look at the time of sunset, the sun seems to give us so much peace and peace of mind. But the source of life on earth is the sun. When plasma and radiations are randomly released from all sides, it becomes the cause of destruction for the entire human civilization.

What are Solar Flares?

So what are solar flares and how are they made? Let’s understand. According to the definition given by the European Space Agency for solar flares, Solar Flares are made when energy is released from a twisted magnetic field above the sunspots. It comes out as an energy explosion and in a few minutes, it heats up to billions of degrees. Then a cloud of radiation comes out of it, which is full of radio waves, X-rays and gamma rays.

The Sun’s Magnetic Field

Actually, our closest star in the sky is the sun. It is like boiling lava or a river of fire. It is so hot that all the electrons and nuclei break and rotate around the plasma. Further, this plasma keeps rotating in a pattern due to the magnetic field of the sun. Just like planets keep rotating due to the gravitational force of the sun. But magnetism and gravity are two different things.

Magnetism is a part of electromagnetism. The plasma that is formed in the sun has electrically charged photons and electrons. When they move, a magnetic field is formed, which keeps rotating in a loop. The energy stored in this magnetic field is released from time to time. The energy released in the entire solar system is called solar wind. But when this plasma rotates around itself, its magnetic field turns many times and comes out of the solar surface in the U-shape. As soon as this U-shape breaks, solar flares come out.

Classification of Solar Flares

Scientists classify solar flares according to the eye brightness in X-ray wavelengths, such as X-class flares, which are the largest. When they collide with the earth, there are radio blackouts all over the world. They stay in the upper atmosphere of the earth for the longest time. Satellite services can be disturbed by a powerful X-class flare, and airline passengers passing near the poles of the earth may also get small radiation doses.

Not only that, Due to X-class players, global transmission problems and worldwide blackouts can also occur. After this comes M-class players, which are of medium size. And by reaching them on Earth, they are usually seen in the polar regions of the Earth to see radio blackouts. Apart from this, minor radiation storms also occur in them. As far as C-class players are concerned, they have an equal impact on the Earth. Because C-class flares are 10 times smaller than M-class flares. Then comes B-class flares and A-class flares, which have no effect on the Earth.

History of Solar Flare Observations

Solar flares have been observed for centuries, But the first solar flare was recorded on 1 September 1869. Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson first noticed a big white light flare while observing a sunspot.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Where solar flares come out of a radiation blast, there are coronal mass ejections or CMEs, big bubbles of solar material coming out of the sun. These bubbles are made up of charged particles or plasma, and they also have magnetic field lines. Sometimes solar flares are seen with coronal mass ejection, so they also come into existence alone.

When it comes to coronal mass ejection, They spread to the universe at a speed of about 9 million kilometers from the atmosphere of the sun with billions of tons of plasma. However, the satellite system from coronal mass ejection, i.e. CME, is very dangerous to astronauts in radio signals and communications and space. But the atmosphere of the earth absorbs the X-rays present in CME. and does not allow it to reach the surface.

The electrified plasma emitted by CME is reflected by the magnetic field of the Earth, and some of this energy storm is diverted to the North and South Pole. When CME’s energy particles fall into the Earth’s atmosphere, they create magnificent visuals in the form of auroras. Auroras are only visible at night and are usually seen in lower polar regions. Near the Arctic and Antarctic circles, almost every night, auroras are visible. Their best view is Iceland, Alaska’s Fairbanks, Canada’s Yellow Knife, Norway’s Tromsø in late August to early April and May.

Solar Superstorms

Sometimes these solar flares are so strong that they are also called Solar Superstorms. In 1869, 1903, 1921, 1967, 2003 and 2022, Solar Superstorms are some of the selected storms. The solar superstorms that came in 2022 are considered to be the reason for the failure of 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites. All these satellites were in low Earth orbit. If this happens today, scientists and researchers will first find out about the presence of strong solar flares in the sky.

The speed of the billion ton plasma emitted from the Sun’s atmosphere will be so high that in less than a day, it will reach the atmosphere of the Earth. As soon as they reach, a pressure of a show wave will form on the atmosphere of the earth and it will compress the magnetic field of the earth and all its energy will be transferred to the magnetosphere.

Effects of Solar Storms on Humans

Due to solar storms, it also affects human health a little. Experts believe that solar storms increase mood swings, headaches and blood pressure in humans. Those who are emotionally and mentally stressed have to face more problems. Not only this, but it also has a very bad effect on our nervous and cardiovascular systems.

Effects on Electronic Systems

The consequences of solar storms do not stop here. When the magnetic field of the coronal mass ejection is aligned with the earth, both the magnetic fields merge with each other. And when the magnetic cloud passes over the earth, it becomes a big magnetic tail. When it breaks, the energy coming out of the magnetic tail collides directly with the earth. And the geomagnetic storm begins.

It may have little effect on our body, but it causes havoc on electronic devices. Because of magnetism, electric current is formed, so thousands of millions of kilometers long electric wires and transformers come under its control. As a result, either a complete shutdown is seen or transformers fly away. The biggest example of this was seen in 1989. when Cuba had a complete shutdown in a power grid in Canada. And even in the USA, there were problems in electricity supply.

Mitigation Strategies

Power grid engineers have found a solution to this problem. And we don’t even know the consequences of solar storms. Because there are some capacitor banks that absorb excess energy by working like batteries. Or there are some electricity dampening devices installed. These are called Faraday cages, which protect critical electronic equipment. By the way, nowadays, large power grids are divided into small sub-stations. Therefore, even if one or two sub-stations fail, there is no effect on the overall supply.

The Carrington Event

By the way, the last time the biggest solar hurricane passed over the earth was in 1859, which is known as the Carrington event. This was the largest geomagnetic storm ever felt on Earth. Due to this, huge auroras were seen. Somewhere it was so bright that people thought the sun had risen. At that time, telegraph was the only means of communication in the world, which was completely destroyed. Carrington event was such a huge coronal mass ejection that it determined the distance of 15 crore kilometers between the sun and the Earth in just 7.5 hours.

Ancient Solar Storms

In January 2022, a study found that 9,200 years ago, a powerful solar storm collided with the Earth, resulting in radioactive particles that are still present in Greenland. The same as the Carrington event, the powerful solar storm passed very close to the Earth in 2012, and the Earth was saved from its impact. If this had happened, the electronic system present all over the world would have suffered a huge loss. and only the USA would incur a loss of about 2.5 trillion dollars.

Probability of Solar Storms

The rate of solar storms caused by such coronal mass ejections is only 14% in every 10 years and there are 50-50 chances of it happening every 50 years. But it doesn’t end there. According to a research paper published in 2019, super flares come out of the sun every few thousand years.

Potential Impact of Super Flares

Such super flares are even more powerful than the solar storms recorded so far. If it collides with the earth, the entire human civilization can reach the end of time. Because mobile networks, computer devices, electricity systems will completely collapse. Without preparation, we can be out of electricity. Navigation devices may even fail. And without electricity, there will be no water supply and neither will our lifestyle-easy electronic equipment work. Can hospitals save lives? Because even life-supporting medical devices without power supply will not work. And it may take a lot of time to repair power grids.

Monitoring Solar Storms

Is this really possible? There are very few chances. Because scientists keep monitoring the activity of such solar storms to come towards the Earth. Like NASA keeps doing this work continuously.

NASA has the Solar Dynamics Observatory. where monitoring activity continues. Dhaneshwaran Krishna Rao, who is the Assistant Professor of Physics, who works for NASA. In 2013, Professor Rao, who is doing an internship at NASA, observes the solar flares from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, which is in Greenbelt, Maryland.

So when such a solar storm comes out, his information is given to NASA’s robotic mission operators and this is how precautions are made. By the way, if you understand it in the common language, when the notification of a solar storm is received, power grid engineers shut down the entire system until the storm passes. Then, when the danger is gone, the power supply is restarted.

The Sun’s Future

Our sun, shining in the clear blue sky, which looks bright white during the day, this sun, which gives life to the earth in the evening, can also end life on the earth someday. And this will happen when When our sun goes out of fuel and starts becoming a death star, then there will be such a tremendous explosion that this supernova blast will spread powerful radiation for millions of light years. This blast will be many times more powerful than any solar flare, which will break the ozone layer of the earth. And then due to harmful charged interstellar particles, our name and symbol will be erased.

Solar Storms in Fiction

In the year 2009, the Hollywood movie Knowing was also made on the theme of solar storm. It shows that the earth burns completely due to a terrible solar flare that comes from the sun. But before that, aliens from some other world put humans in a spaceship and settle the earth on some other planet.

Conclusion

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are powerful events that happen on the Sun. Sometimes, they can mess up our technology here on Earth, like our communication systems, satellites, and power grids. Even though they’re natural, they can still cause problems because we rely so much on technology.

But the good news is that scientists have gotten really good at watching the Sun and predicting when these storms might happen. NASA is always keeping an eye on the Sun and letting us know if there’s a storm coming. This helps us prepare and protect our important systems before anything bad happens.