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Shift May 5, 200 Promjena 5 Maj 2000

CME - Giant Solar Gas Cloud Threatens Satellites & Power Grid
19 February 2000

(UK Press Association) - A massive cloud of hot electrically charged gas spewed out by the Sun appears to be hurtling towards the Earth, threatening communication satellites and power grid systems, it was disclosed today.

The solar eruption, or Coronal Mass Ejection, was spotted by the Sun observation spacecraft Soho yesterday.

Billowing away from the Sun at up to 2,000 kilometres per second, the plasma cloud weighing as much as 10 billion tons is expected to reach the Earth some time in the next two days.

Fortunately the mass is spread out across a huge area.

When it arrives communication satellites could be knocked out of action, power grids on Earth overloaded and dazzling aurora displays appear in the sky across the whole of Britain.

Ahead of the CME will be a bow-wave of fast-moving charged atomic particles, mainly electrons and protons, that can damage sensitive equipment and pose a hazard for space-walking astronauts.

As the cloud envelopes the Earth it is likely to kick up a geomagnetic storm - a major disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field.

Large geomagnetic storms have in the past knocked out communication satellites and caused power surges which threaten electricity supplies on Earth.

In March 1989 the whole of Quebec's hydro-electric system collapsed, cutting off six million people, because of a power surge overload caused by a geomagnetic storm triggered by a solar eruption.

Three years ago a Coronal Mass Ejection was blamed for the loss of Telstar 401, a TV communication satellite.

The satellite was beaming an episode of Star Trek to viewers in the US when it suddenly stopped working, never to recover.

Yesterday's mass ejection event accompanied one of two medium-sized solar flares - bright outbursts of atomic particles and X-rays - that erupted from sunspot groups near the middle of the Sun's face.

It was spotted by an instrument aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (Soho) as an expanding halo around the Sun.

Solar expert Dr Richard Harrison, from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, Oxfordshire, said: "The cloud can be seen expanding beyond the Sun's disc. It could either be coming towards us, or going away from us. But given the flare activity on the part of the Sun facing us, it's very, very likely that the mass ejection is heading towards the Earth.

"This thing is basically a cloud of gas carrying its own magnetic field. The Earth has a magnetic field, and as anyone knows when you bring two magnets together you expect to see an effect.

"It can give the Earth's magnetic field quite a kick, even at ground level. You won't notice it, but it can overload electrical systems. In addition there's a shock wave of accelerated atomic particles which can threaten satellites.

"All you need are a few energetic particles to zap your computer and you have problems. To be honest there's not much satellite operators can do about it."

He said that when the CME reached the Earth one effect could be magnificent auroras. The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, which is normally only seen in extremely northerly latitudes, may be visible the whole length of Britain.

Auroras are caused by atomic particles streaming towards the Earth's magnetic poles and bombarding gases in the atmosphere. They produce curtains and bands of light in the sky, usually green in colour, but often glowing blue or red.

"When there's a big event like this you might even be able to see an aurora down here," said Dr Harrison. "It's well worth looking out for."

Solar activity follows an 11-year cycle which will peak later this year, making it likely that more flares and mass ejections will occur.

Both the flares seen yesterday were associated with disappearing solar filaments, magnetic field loops with hot gas trapped inside that appear and vanish in just a few minutes or hours. A disappearing solar filament is a sign that big changes are taking place in the Sun's local magnetic field, and is an indicator for mass ejections.

Dr Harrison said: "Unfortunately it's still very difficult to predict these events. It's not like weather forecasting. As we become more and more dependent on satellites this is going to be a problem."

A Nasa mission called Stereo - for which scientists at Birmingham University have supplied instruments - is due to launch a pair of spacecraft in 2004 to observe the Sun from two different angles.

This will give scientists a much better idea of in what direction a Coronal Mass Ejection is heading.

Original article is here http://www.sightings.com/ufo6/cme.htm

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