Geomagnetic Storm

Why in news?

• A geomagnetic storm has knocked up to 40 out of 49 SpaceX high-speed internet satellites, a day after they were launched to a low deployment orbit, 130 miles above Earth. The incident was believed to mark the largest collective loss of satellites stemming from a single geomagnetic event.

About Geomagnetic Storm:

• Geomagnetic storm or Solar storms are magnetic plasma ejected at great speed from the solar surface.
• They occur during the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots (‘dark’ regions on the Sun that are cooler than the surrounding photosphere), and can last for a few minutes or hours.

Effects on Earth:

• Not all solar flares reach Earth, but solar flares/storms, solar energetic particles (SEPs), high-speed solar winds, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that come close can impact space weather in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.
• Solar storms can hit operations of space-dependent services like global positioning systems (GPS), radio, and satellite communications.
• Geomagnetic storms interfere with high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation systems. Aircraft flights, power grids, and space exploration programmes are vulnerable.
• CMEs, with ejectiles loaded with matter travelling at millions of miles an hour, can potentially create disturbances in the magnetosphere, the protective shield surrounding the Earth.
• Astronauts on spacewalks face health risks from possible exposure to solar radiation outside the Earth’s protective atmosphere.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

With reference to ‘Geomagnetic Storm’, consider the following statements:

1. They are magnetic plasma ejected at great speed from the solar surface.

2. They interfere with high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation systems

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

                        C

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