Solar activity has been at a high for the past few months, and that could be because the Solar Maximum is approaching. The Sun entered its 25 solar cycle in 2019 and it is expected to peak in July 2025, so solar activity will increase further during the peak. Therefore, we can expect solar phenomena such as sunspot eruptions, solar storms, solar flares, geomagnetic storms, etc., to bombard the Earth.
Recently, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued warnings about a potential CME impact that could affect the Earth and soon caused a geomagnetic storm.
According to a recent report report by spaceweather.com, NOAA forecasters have their eyes on a coronal mass explosion (CME) generated by Sun into space in an M2.5-magnitude explosion on June 9. Alarmingly, this CME is moving toward Earth and is predicted to collide with Earth’s magnetic field. The report adds that this collision is likely to result in a G1-class collision geomagnetic storm is expected to hit the planet and possibly deal a blow tomorrow, June 13.
The risk of impact of geomagnetic storms
While such impacts can produce gravitational auroras, they can cause a lot of damage to infrastructure on Earth and in space. They can damage small satellites, impact cellular and GPS networks, and even pose a threat to electronics and ground-based power grids by increasing magnetic field potentials by large amounts. .
How NASA SOHO tracks the Sun
NASA’s SOHO (Solar and Heliosphere Observatory) is a satellite launched on December 2, 1995. It is a collaborative project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the sun. sky, atmosphere and its impact on the solar system. It is equipped with 12 scientific instruments, such as the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), LASCO (Large Angle and Spectral Imaging), and others. SOHO takes pictures of the sun’s corona, measures the velocity and magnetic field of the sun’s surface, and observes the faint corona around the sun.
