Published on January 24th, 2012 | by James Johnson2
Sun Shoots Charged Plasma Hurling Towards Earth
The sun is currently experiencing it’s biggest solar storm since 2005 and as part of that event a stream of charged plasma has just been hurled towards earth.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the burst was followed by a coronal mass injection which has sent billions of plasma particles toward Earth at “uncommonly fast speeds.”
While plasma bursts from solar storms post a threat to satellites, power grids and other forms of technology officials say the current storm is rather small and therefore manageable.
In fact the first radiation flare hit Earth within a few short hours of the burst with plasma reaching our planet at approximately 9am on Tuesday morning.
To avoid any complications some flights were routed around polar regions on Monday and Tuesday however that move was more precautionary then anything else.
NASA must closely monitor such storms as the radiation caused by a large flare can actually be deadly to Astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Thankfully this small burst is not big enough to cause issues for Astronauts currently in orbit.
In the meantime NASA officials say a light show is possible based on the size of the flares which could produce some amazing auroras over the coming weekend.