The Earth will be bombarded today by the strongest solar radiation storm in six years, with a limited potential to affect satellites and power grids, officials say.
The coronal mass ejection, a violent release of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, is hurtling toward the Earth at 4 million miles per hour and should hit about 9 a.m. New York time, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The last time we had a radiation storm this strong was May 2005,” said Doug Biesecker, a physicist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. “That’s really the reason this event is remarkable -- it’s just been so long since we’ve seen this.”
The ejection will bring with it a geomagnetic storm that could reach a G3 level, or “Strong” ranking. While the radiation may be felt by communication system satellites and the power grid on Earth, scientists expect little practical effect, Biesecker said.
