On September 6, 2017, the largest solar flare occurred in twelve years. The registered radiation shows that a coronal mass ejection has occurred. Life figured out how this could threaten ordinary people.

Behind the bustle of ordinary days and simple momentary problems, we forget about how complex and fragile our world is. That the Sun is not just a luminous basketball in the sky, giving light during the day and the opportunity to take beautiful photos in the mornings and evenings, but huge star, whose mass is 99.87 percent of the mass of the entire solar system. On September 6, another reminder happened - the largest flare in the last twelve years occurred on the Sun.

It's time to figure out what it can threaten us, ordinary earthlings, astronauts at the International space station, which do not have the saving protection of the atmosphere, and even satellites operating in Earth's orbit.

Flash on the right!

Let's deal with the terms. What is a flash, if the Sun is already a huge ball, consisting mainly of hydrogen, inside which thermonuclear reactions take place, releasing a huge amount of energy, light and heat. Yes, this is true, but due to its structure, the Sun "burns" fairly evenly for its size and mass.

However, sometimes there is an explosive release of energy in the Sun's atmosphere, called a flare. This process captures all layers of the solar atmosphere: the photosphere, chromosphere and corona of the Sun. At this moment (and the impulsive phase of solar flares lasts only a few minutes) there is a powerful release of energy - sometimes up to 15 percent of the total energy released by the Sun per second.

Even just converting the flare energy into close and understandable values ​​is very difficult - it is so huge. A powerful flash releases about 160 billion megatons of TNT energy, which, by comparison, is the approximate amount of world electricity consumption over one million years.

Sometimes at the same moment there is also a coronal mass ejection - part of the solar matter is ejected with force outside the atmosphere of the Sun. Scientists have not yet determined whether these phenomena are related or not. Quite often, solar matter is ejected parallel to flares, but sometimes this occurs independently of each other. On September 6, the Sun experienced not only a flare, but also a coronal mass ejection.

The ejection contains a plasma consisting of electrons and protons. The ejection mass can be up to 10 billion tons of matter, which flies in space at an average speed of 400 kilometers per second and reaches the Earth within one - three days. And if the main effect of a solar flare reaches the Earth in eight and a half minutes, then in the case of a coronal mass ejection, the effect turns out to be extended and begins several days after the ejection moment.

It is worth noting that the Sun is a ball, so some of the flares from the Earth are simply not visible. They occur on the opposite side of the Sun and do not affect us in any way. In this case, the Earth was not lucky: the outbreak occurred in a geoeffective area near the Sun-Earth line, from where the impact on our planet is maximum.

Scientists have begun to measure the power of solar flares and record coronal mass ejections relatively recently, since the sixties of the last century. Flash output is determined by the Latin letters A, B, C, M or X and a numerical value after it. The flare that occurred is estimated by scientists as X9.3, while the most powerful flare ever recorded is X28. Strangest of all, the current outbreak occurred exactly twelve years after the last outbreak of such magnitude (September 7, 2005). Also, it's in recession. solar activity. Astronomers did not expect such a phenomenon to occur.

What threatens such an outbreak?

interacting with the Earth's magnetosphere, plasma flows cause disturbances in it - storms that are felt by weather-dependent people.

The thing is that the human body is accustomed to the Earth's magnetic field and uses it in Everyday life, for example, for orientation in space. Disturbances of the magnetic field cause an imbalance in the body systems in some people who are most sensitive to this phenomenon. It is believed that geo magnetic storms cause migraine, insomnia, pressure surges. However, all this is purely individual. It is difficult to say how geomagnetic storms caused by solar flares affect a specific person. Scientists are still studying this issue, there is even a whole section of biophysics that studies the effect of changes in the activity of the Sun on terrestrial organisms - heliobiology.

So the most important thing is not to panic. As a rule, weather-dependent people are well aware that they can get sick from geomagnetic storms. Meteorologically dependent, as well as people with chronic diseases, should monitor the approach of magnetic storms and exclude in advance any events or actions that can lead to stress during this period. It is best at this time to be at rest, relax and reduce any physical and emotional overload.

What's with the connection?

Soyuz", which plays the role of a rescue ship on the ISS. However, the design of all modules of the station provides normal protection for the crew from bursts of solar activity, during which the radiation background greatly increases. Cosmonauts daily conduct an individual account of the dose of radiation received on board.

In general, there is no need to be afraid of solar flares. This is a fairly common occurrence, in your life you have experienced many of them without even knowing what happened. Otherwise, you can become like Dunno from the Flower City and make a commotion from scratch.

And Dunno ran at full speed home and let's shout:

Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!

- What piece? they ask him.

- Piece, brothers! A piece broke off from the Sun. Soon it will slap - and everyone will be covered. Do you know what the sun is? It is larger than our entire Earth!

- What are you thinking!

- I'm not imagining anything. This is what Steklyashkin said. He saw through his pipe.

Everyone ran out into the yard and began to look at the Sun. They watched and watched until tears began to flow from their eyes. Blindly, it began to seem to everyone that the Sun was actually chipped. And Dunno shouted: "Save yourself who can! Trouble!"

The powerful X9.3 flare on the Sun has already attracted a lot of attention, but, according to breaking news, during it there was a large ejection of solar matter, and it turns out to be directed towards the Earth. Electromagnetic apocalypse or a chic spectacle - what to expect in the next day or two?

Flare X9.3, photo by SDO/NASA observatory

Despite the fact that the Sun is moving towards the minimum of its eleven-year cycle of activity (beginning in 2008), the number of sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections does not drop completely to zero. Last Saturday, in just a day, a large sunspot grew into an entire active region of AR2673, so vast that it could be seen with the naked eye.

Landscape September 3, photo by Bob King

General sunspot pattern for September 5, photo SDO/NASA

AR2673 close up

The active region turned out to be of a very "explosive" type, with at least seven moderate flares early in the week and at least six more on Wednesday. And one of them turned out to be extremely powerful, amounting to a maximum of 9.3*10 −4 W*m 2 . A burst of brightness speaks louder than numbers.

The outbreak itself has already caused some problems with communications on Earth and in near-Earth space. But this was not enough - along with it there was a coronal mass ejection. It should be noted that today there is no coherent theory describing the processes occurring in the active region; mass ejections are considered independent of flares, although they often occur together. A large amount of solar matter went flying at a speed of at least 1000 km per second. And it so happened that the Earth was in his path.

Scheme of mass ejection movement, animation solarham.net

Satellite view of SOHO

The dimensions of the plasma cloud are such that our planet will "bath" in charged particles for a day or two. And these particles will interact with the Earth's magnetic field and what is under it.

How dangerous is it?

Of the measured flashes, the strongest occurred on November 4, 2003, and since the sensors then went off scale, there is debate whether to classify it as X28, X35, or still X45. This is 3-5 times more powerful than now. In 2001 there was an outbreak of X20, in 2003 - X17.2, in 2005 - X17. And nothing, humanity survived it and even managed to safely forget it. by the most famous cases when space weather impacted our lives were the Carrington event and the 1989 outbreak. The Carrington Event occurred on September 1, 1859. There was an extremely powerful solar flare (estimated at X45) and the coronal mass ejection reached Earth in just 17 hours, because the previous ejection literally cleared the way for it. The aurora borealis could be observed at the latitude of Cuba, to the north it was possible to read under their light, but the then main user of electricity, the telegraph, was seriously damaged. Telegraph operators were shocked, poles sparked, and some cunning telegraph operators were able to work by disconnecting the device from the regular power supply and using the free energy of solar plasma.

The fantasy of a modern artist, how such an event might look now

In March 1989, an X15 outbreak occurred. After the usual three and a half days, the solar plasma reached the Earth, and already much more technically advanced humanity began to have some problems - communication with several satellites was lost, the sensor of the power supply system began to lie at the Discovery shuttle that was then in orbit, but the residents of the province of Quebec had the worst of it. Canada - fuses on high-voltage power lines went off there, and hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity for nine hours. Since the incident, various power networks around the globe have taken measures to ensure that such problems do not reoccur, but long distance transmission lines (especially high voltage), as well as transformers, by their very nature, are vulnerable to geomagnetic induced currents, so that during a very strong storm, certain there will always be risks for power networks.

It is curious that an event comparable in power to the Carrington event occurred in 2012, but then a stream of charged particles flew past the Earth.

Conclusion: We should expect possible communication problems, several satellites may temporarily or permanently fail, but there should be nothing terrible.

Waiting for beauty

Another factor that determines the intensity of the impact of solar plasma on the Earth - the direction of its magnetic field is still unknown. If it coincides with the local magnetic field of the Earth, the effect will be minimal. But if it is the opposite, then we are waiting for very bright auroras.

So far, the predicted level of the magnetic storm is Kp = 7, that is, the auroras can be seen in most of Russia.

Magnetic storm, NOAA forecast

From all of the above, one simple conclusion follows - on Friday evenings and even Saturdays, look at the sky - there is a very real chance to notice such beauty:

March 2015, the city of Kirov

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This Steklyashkin was a famous astronomer. He knew how to make magnifying glasses out of fragments of broken bottles. When he looked through magnifying glasses at various objects, the objects seemed larger. From several such magnifying glasses, Steklyashkin made a large telescope through which one could look at the moon and the stars. Thus he became an astronomer.

Listen, Steklyashkin, Dunno told him. - You understand what kind of story came out: a piece came off the sun and hit me on the head.

What you. Dunno! Steklyashkin laughed. - If a piece came off the sun, it would crush you into a cake. The sun is very big. It is larger than our entire Earth.

It can't be, Dunno answered. - In my opinion, the sun is no more than a plate.

We only think so, because the sun is very far from us. The sun is a huge hot ball. I saw this in my pipe. If even a small piece of the sun came off, it would destroy our entire city.

Look you! - answered Dunno. "I didn't know the sun was that big." I'll go and tell our people - maybe they haven't heard about it yet. But you still look at the sun through your pipe: what if it is actually chipped!

Dunno went home and told everyone who met along the way:

Brothers, do you know what kind of sun? It is larger than our entire Earth. Here it is! And now, brothers, a piece has come off the sun and is flying straight towards us. Soon it will fall and crush us all. Horror what will happen! Go ask Steklyashkin.

Everyone laughed, because they knew that Dunno was a talker. And Dunno ran at full speed home and let's shout:

Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!

What piece? they ask him.

Piece, brothers! A piece broke off from the sun. Soon it will slap - and everyone will be covered. Do you know what the sun is? It is larger than our entire Earth!

What are you thinking!

I don't invent anything. This is what Steklyashkin said. He saw through his pipe.

Everyone ran out into the courtyard and began to look at the sun. They watched and watched until tears began to flow from their eyes. Blindly, it began to seem to everyone that the sun was actually chipped. And the Dunno shouted:

Save who can! Trouble!

Everyone began to grab their things. The tube grabbed his paints and brush, Guslya - his musical instruments. Dr. Pilyulkin rushed around the house and looked for a first-aid kit, which had been lost somewhere. Donut grabbed galoshes and an umbrella and already ran out of the gate, but then Znayka's voice was heard:

Calm down brothers! There is nothing terrible. Don't you know that Dunno is a talker? He invented all this.

Invented? - Dunno shouted. - Go ask Steklyashkin.

Everyone ran to Steklyashkin, and then it turned out that Dunno actually composed everything. Well, there was laughter! Everyone laughed at Dunno and said:

We wonder how we believed you!

And I'm not surprised! - answered Dunno. - I actually believed it myself.

That's how wonderful this Dunno was.

Chapter Two
How Dunno was a musician

If Dunno took up some business, then he did it the wrong way, and everything turned out to be topsy-turvy. He learned to read only by spelling, and he could only write block letters. Many said that Dunno had a completely empty head, but this is not true, because how could he then think? Of course, he did not think well, but he put on his shoes on his feet, and not on his head - after all, this also needs consideration.

Dunno was not so bad. He really wanted to learn something, but did not like to work. He wanted to learn right away, without any difficulty, and even the smartest little man could not get anything out of this.

Kids and babies were very fond of music, and Guslya was a wonderful musician. He had various musical instruments and often played them. Everyone listened to the music and praised it very much. Dunno was envious that Guslya was being praised, so he began to ask him:

Teach me how to play I also want to be a musician.

Learn, - Guslya agreed. - What do you want to play?

And what is the easiest way to learn?

On the balalaika.

Well, give the balalaika here, I'll try.

Guslya gave him a balalaika. Dunno rattled on the strings. Then he says:

No, the balalaika plays too quietly. Give me something else, louder.

Guslya gave him a violin. Dunno began to chirp the strings with his bow and said:

Is there anything even louder?

There is also a pipe, ”Guslya answered.

Come on over here, let's try it.

Guslya gave him a large copper trumpet. Dunno how to blow into it, how the pipe will roar!

This is a good tool! - Dunno was delighted. - Loud playing!

Well, study the pipe, if you like it, - Guslya agreed.

Why should I study? I already know how, - Dunno answered.

No, you still can't.

I can, I can! Here listen! - Dunno shouted and began to blow with all his might into the pipe: - Boo-boo-boo! Goo-hoo-hoo!

You just trumpet, not play, - Guslya replied.

How can I not play? - Dunno was offended. - I play very well! Loud!

Oh you! It's not about being loud. It needs to be beautiful.

So I do it and it turns out beautifully.

And it’s not beautiful at all, ”said Guslya. - You, I see, are not at all capable of music.

You are not capable! Dunno got angry. You're just saying that out of jealousy. You want to be listened to and praised alone.

Nothing of the sort,” Guslya said. - Pick up the trumpet and play as much as you want if you don't think you need to learn. Let them praise you too.

The solar observatory recorded last night one of the highest energy events on the Sun - the so-called "coronal ejection". The blast wave from the star will reach Earth by Thursday.

Solar Observatory SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) recorded last night one of the highest energy events on the Sun - the so-called "coronal mass ejection". This phenomenon is the cause of magnetic storms on Earth. The blast wave from the star will reach Earth by Thursday, February 3rd. Since the ejected solar plasma will "go" from the Sun for about a day and a half, this means that the first magnetic storm may occur tonight.

It is believed that it is the matter of emissions reaching the earth's orbit that can pose a danger, for example, to power lines. In addition, an understanding of the CME mechanism is necessary to create a technology for predicting their occurrence.

Yesterday, a giant elongated bubble separated from the Sun, gradually increasing in size. These phenomena - coronal mass ejections - affect the Earth the most, much more than flares, since this is a direct impact of matter.

In order for such a huge mass of matter - hundreds of millions of tons - to be able to break away from the Sun, where the second cosmic velocity exceeds 600 kilometers per second, huge energy is needed.

The planet is threatened by a geostorm

If the flash is directed towards the Earth, the planet may be threatened by a "geostorm". So the famous geomagnetic storm of 1859, also known as the Solar Superstorm or the Carrington Event, was the most powerful geomagnetic storm in history. From August 28 to September 2, numerous sunspots and flares were observed on the Sun. Just after noon on September 1, British astronomer Richard Carrington observed the largest flare, which caused a large coronal mass ejection. He flew directly to the Earth and reached it after 18 hours. This is unusual - such a distance is usually covered by an outburst in 3-4 days. He was moving so fast because previous ejections had cleared the way.

On September 1-2, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm began, causing the failure of telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America. Auroras have been observed around the world, especially over the Caribbean; it is also interesting that over the Rocky Mountains they were so bright that the glow woke the gold miners, who began to prepare breakfast, thinking that it was morning. Ice cores show that events of this intensity are repeated on average about once every 500 years. After 1859, less severe storms occurred in 1921 and 1960, when massive radio outages were noted.

In the case of yesterday's release, everything is not yet clear, because usually releases are accompanied by outbreaks, but this time it was not recorded. Perhaps the flare occurred on the far side of the Sun and most likely, the ejection goes into reverse side from us, and therefore this event will not affect the Earth too much.

Dangerous proximity to a star

The STEREO spacecraft managed to obtain data on the three-dimensional structure of a coronal mass ejection on the Sun. Satellites transmitted to Earth information about the spatial distribution of mass, temperature and magnetic fields that are present in the output.

Coronal mass ejections or CMEs are ejections a large number solar matter into interstellar space as a result of active processes occurring on the star. At present, little is known about the mechanisms of the CME, so the new results are quite important.

The STEREO-A and STEREO-B spacecraft move around the Sun in the same orbit as the Earth. Scientists hope that asteroids that were once part of Theia, a hypothetical planet the size of Mars, whose collision with Earth led to the formation of the Moon, could remain at these points. To search for these bodies, it is planned to use high-resolution cameras of the devices.

The STEREO satellites were launched into space in October 2006. Since then, both spacecraft gradually "disperse" in the Earth's orbit. The goal is to achieve an angle between the radius vectors of the probes of 180 degrees. This will allow scientists to observe the entire surface of the Sun. The required angle will be reached in February 2011.

Coronal mass ejections (CME) are giant volumes of solar matter ejected into interplanetary space from the Sun's atmosphere as a result of active processes occurring in it. The nature of emissions and the reasons for which they occur are not yet fully understood. For example, it has long been known that coronal mass ejections are often (perhaps always) associated with solar flares, but the mechanism of this connection has not yet been established. It is not even known whether the ejection precedes the flare or, on the contrary, is its consequence.

Although observations of the Sun's far corona during eclipses date back thousands of years, the existence of coronal mass ejections remained unknown until the beginning of the space age. Observational evidence of this phenomenon was first obtained about 35 years ago on the coronagraph of the solar orbital station OSO 7, which operated in orbit from 1971 to 1973. The reason why the discovery of coronal mass ejections happened so late is that the total phase solar eclipses lasts on Earth for a very short time (only a few minutes), which is not enough to detect a coronal mass ejection lasting several hours. In addition, ground-based coronagraphs are unable to detect the ejecta's faint emission due to the bright skyglow. Coronographs installed on board spacecraft are free from this drawback and, due to this, provide ample opportunities for studying coronal ejections.

Coronal mass ejections disrupt the flow of the solar wind and cause magnetic storms, which sometimes lead to catastrophic results. For this reason, the study of coronal mass ejections and the development of methods for their early forecasting is great importance. Big number Ejections and eruptive prominences in the last decade have been registered by the LASCO (The Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) space coronagraph aboard the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) station. LASCO observations have shown that the frequency of coronal mass ejections depends on the solar cycle. During a minimum, activity occurs in on average, about one mass ejection per week, while during the maximum of the solar cycle there were 2-3 coronal mass ejections per day.The film (3.4 MB MPEG) shows the results of continuous observations of coronal mass ejections for a whole month in February 1998, carried out by the LASCO instrument.

This morning the Sun “lost” a little, a weighty piece of matter flew off the luminary. According to scientists, it was one of the largest releases of the substance this year.

In just a couple of hours, the petal grew to 6 million kilometers. Such a record coronal ejection was "caught" at the international solar orbital observatory SOHO.

If the solar ejection does reach the Earth, then a magnetic storm cannot be avoided. However, in this specific case you can not be afraid of anything, the storm will not be too destructive.

“The event ... has almost zero geoeffectiveness, since it did not occur in the direction of the Earth, but almost strictly in the plane of the sky: at an angle of about 90 degrees to the Sun-Earth line. Moreover, the active region from which the matter was ejected, region 1099, is currently located beyond the edge of the solar disk on the invisible solar side. For this reason, the ejection most likely has a small velocity component from the Earth, ”the message says.

By the way, it was this arrangement that made it possible for scientists to consider the phenomenon in more detail. In fact, the ejection is "a plexus of giant magnetic tubes, the bases of which go down into the atmosphere of the Sun, and the tops move away from the Sun at great speed, expanding and additionally raking up interplanetary matter in front of them, which forms a dense shock front," the scientists note.