MOSCOW, September 8 - RIA Novosti.The plasma cloud, which was formed as a result of a powerful solar flare, has reached the earth. Now the magnetic field of the ejection "burns" the field lines of our planet, according to the report of the Laboratory of X-ray Astronomy of the Sun of the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN).
Scientist: current solar flares are a mysteryA new strongest flare occurred on the Sun. Expert Sergei Bogachev told Sputnik radio how scientists perceive what is happening, and how such solar activity can threaten humanity.According to scientists, the plasma cloud came to Earth's orbit about 12 hours earlier than predicted. This means that its speed exceeded the expected one and a half times.
Record solar activity
The strongest surge in solar activity in the last 12 years took place on September 6-8. Several flashes of extreme brightness occurred on the surface of the celestial body. Coronal matter was emitted towards the Earth. On our planet, this phenomenon caused a strong geomagnetic storm, but so far, solar flares have not entailed any negative consequences.
The first outbreak occurred on Wednesday, September 6, and was the most powerful in 12 years. She was given a score of X9.3. (The previous explosion of such force was recorded on September 7, 2005). The sunspot, on the territory of which the flare occurred, remained active until September 8, it emitted three more medium (M levels) and one strong (X level) flare. The last flash, which was closest to the X level in strength, occurred at about 11:00 Moscow time.
The shock wave from the first flare reached the Earth much earlier than expected: already at midnight on September 8, a strong (fourth level on a five-point scale) geomagnetic storm began. According to forecasts by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the magnetic storm should end at 18:00 Moscow time.
The sunquake and the placebo effect
During the first flare, seismic waves propagated along the surface of the star, which scientists call a sunquake, Alexey Struminsky, a leading researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RIA Novosti.
"The interesting thing about this flare is that at the time of individual flares, there is a sunquake, when seismic waves propagate across the Sun - they are visible in the images," he said.
According to Struminsky, the consequences of such an outbreak should not bring any harm to health. "There are people who believe in this (the effect of solar flares on health). There are those who do not. If we talk about those who believe, it will affect in the same way as the same flares in previous cycles affected ... Almost no one will notice anything. ", - said the scientist.
He clarified that, despite the strength of the outbreak, there will be only a slight impact on the operation of radio communications and satellites.
The head of the Moscow Space Club, Ivan Moiseev, has a somewhat different opinion. According to him, the outbreak can lead to malfunctions of satellites. Failures should not occur, but temporary equipment failures during geomagnetic storms are a common phenomenon.
But Moiseev ruled out the possibility of a negative impact of outbreaks on people's health. Rather, psychological factors have a harmful effect.
"Such facts have not yet been recorded by scientific research. Theoretically, yes, it is possible, but practically it has not been proven. It must be understood that the placebo effect in the sensations of people reading news about flares, as well as about spots on the Sun, has a stronger effect on their physical and a psycho-emotional state. A person is anxious, expects troubles - so they happen, "- Moiseev believes.
All systems are working normally
Despite the alarming prospects for radio and satellite technology, there have been no reports of equipment failures or serious disruptions. The first that solar flares did not affect the control systems in any way was reported in the Strategic Missile Forces.
"A powerful geomagnetic storm caused by a solar flare did not significantly affect the performance of the strategic missile forces' combat control systems.<…> The systems make it possible to exclude any impact of external sources on the combat readiness of troops. The routes for delivering orders and collecting reports of the automated combat command and control system are formed by wire, radio and satellite communication channels and have the necessary survivability and noise immunity, "the Defense Ministry said.
The department emphasized that the orders of the combat command are brought to the launchers directly, bypassing intermediate links, including in conditions of nuclear impact and electronic suppression.
Later, the Ministry of Defense reported that no harmful effects were exerted on the Russian orbital group.
"The magnetic storm caused by the solar flare did not have a negative impact on the Russian orbital grouping and ground control systems for spacecraft of the Russian Space Forces," the Russian military department noted.
"Duty forces of the ground-based automated control complex carry out communication and control sessions of spacecraft of the Russian orbital group in the normal mode," the Defense Ministry added.
The consequences of astronomical phenomena also did not affect the work of the largest Russian cellular operators.
"Solar flares did not affect the operation of the MTS network in any way," said MTS spokesman Dmitry Solodovnikov.
"Megafon's network is operating normally," the operator's press service assured.
"The Beeline network is operating normally, there is no deterioration in connection with the solar flare," said a representative of VimpelCom.
There was no need to evacuate the international crew of the International Space Station. In the event of a threat of radiation exposure, cosmonauts and astronauts usually hide in the descent vehicle of the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station. The Mission Control Center (MCC) reported that the background radiation on the ISS, despite new flares, quickly returned to normal.
Northern lights at unprecedented southern latitudes
Pavel Skripnichenko, an employee of the Department of Astronomy of the Ural Federal University, reported that such flares on the Sun can cause the aurora borealis at latitudes where it usually does not occur.
"In the Urals, in general, the aurora as such is not observed, because there are enough southern latitudes. Normal auroras, multicolored, which are best known, are observed to the north. But as a result of the strong activity of the Sun in the Urals, at latitudes of about 50-60 degrees, they can be observed here such red flashes. That is, it is not guaranteed that they will be visible, but they, in principle, can be observed when solar activity is high or when there is a flash, "- said the scientist.
Senior researcher at the Pulkovo Laboratory Sergei Smirnov said that the northern lights may be visible in St. Petersburg as well.
"In St. Petersburg, the northern lights can be with a high probability, but because of the strong clouds, the townspeople may not see it. For example, now the cloudiness over the city is two tiers. So it is better to observe this phenomenon outside the city," Smirnov said.
According to NOAA forecasts, the northern lights, triggered by powerful solar flares, with a probability of about 50% will reach Moscow on Sunday night.
Nevertheless, Vladimir Surdin, a senior researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute, believes that large cities are rather poorly suited for observing the aurora borealis. Even if it does reach Moscow, Muscovites will have little chance of witnessing the amazing phenomenon.
"It is unlikely, since there are clouds over Moscow, and in the coming nights they are unlikely to disappear. We will definitely not see a glow, even if there is one. Above the city, such things are not visible even in cloudless weather, because the sky is very illuminated. Aurora is not such a bright thing, "Surdin told RIA Novosti.
The end of the strongest storm
After several flares of average magnitude (but approaching in values \u200b\u200bto the boundary of powerful flares), the activity of the Sun dropped to a weak level of class C, follows from the graph of the Laboratory of X-ray Astronomy of the Sun of the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences.
The FIAN representative specified that a fourth-level magnetic storm on a five-point scale is taking place on Earth. The strength of the event is about 10 times greater than predicted. Canada, now on the night side of the Earth, has strong auroras at high and middle latitudes. The storm is planetary.
Scientists note that what happened is a natural result of changes in the solar corona over the past three days. During this period, as a result of the interaction of two large sunspot groups, energy was accumulated, which was released in a large flare. At present, the consequences of this natural phenomenon are difficult to predict with sufficient accuracy.
According to the NOAA forecast, the end of the magnetic storm on Earth is expected at about 18:00 Moscow time.
Despite the fact that the next “end of the world”, which was “appointed” for December 21 of last year, remained at the level of predictions and horror stories, according to many scientists, processes are currently taking place on our planet that can carry in themselves a significant danger to all life on Earth, and also lead to its complete disappearance. One of these processes may be the loss of the Earth's magnetic field, and today's data indicate that the likelihood of such a development of events increases over the years.
The pole reversal is in full swing. Where it leads?
As you know, our planet has magnetic poles due to the peculiarities of the interaction of the solid and liquid cores of the Earth. Their interaction takes place according to the principle of a core, around which a copper wire laid by turns is located. The impact of objects on each other, as is known, causes magnetic excitation and the presence of a certain magnetic field. On a planetary scale, this interaction ensures the presence of the Earth's magnetic field, which protects us from solar radiation, and is the key to the existence of life on it. At the same time, scientists argue that the disruption of the interaction of these two components, which occurs periodically and has, in general, an objective nature, leads to a significant weakening of the magnetic field, or even to its complete disappearance.
On the scale of the Earth, such changes can be determined by fixing the change in magnetic poles. A comparison of the available facts, as the analysts of the Science section of the Birzhevoy Leader magazine note, may indicate the beginning of the process of changing the planet's magnetic poles. In particular, according to Conall McNiokyle, professor of geology and geophysics at Oxford University, over the past hundred years, the north magnetic pole has moved more than one and a half thousand kilometers, moreover, only in the last twenty years it has "run" 220 kilometers. At the same time, the main direction of the drift is the southern one. Everything indicates that the dynamics of the drift of the Earth's magnetic poles is intensifying, and the prospect of our planet losing its own magnetic "shield" is growing.
Consequences of loss of magnetic field
What can the loss of the Earth's magnetic field lead to? The consequences of this, as mentioned above, can be catastrophic. The fact is that even a weakening of the field in some anomalous parts of the planet has already led to various troubles. As an example, the situation in 1989 in Canada is given, when, due to the weakening of the field to the surface of the Earth, the rays of solar radiation were "interrupted". This led to the failure of electrical networks, communication intermittently worked. Globally, the loss of the magnetic field and exposure to solar radiation will lead, first of all, to technological collapse. Power supply systems will stop working, communication will disappear, communication systems will fail. The impact on all life on Earth will be no less destructive. Radiation will lead to radiation exposure, which will cause disease, mutation, and, ultimately, the extinction of humanity.
Scientists emphasize that the change of the Earth's magnetic poles occurred with an average frequency of 500 thousand poles. It is possible that the processes of extinction of species that existed on Earth, which we know about when 50 to 90 percent of the earth's flora and fauna died out, were provoked by just such processes. At the same time, according to one of the hypotheses, which is supported by the analysis of the polarization of ancient volcanic crystalline rocks, the last change of the poles on our planet took place approximately 780 thousand years ago. Therefore, it is quite possible that the beginning drift of the poles, which has already led to a weakening of the Earth's magnetic field by 10 percent over the past 150 years, is a harbinger of more global processes, the duration of which scientists have not yet predicted, however, the period of weakening or complete loss of the Earth's magnetic poles. may be several thousand years. Experts continue to monitor the magnetic field, and, quite possibly, soon we will receive new data that can either calm, or, on the contrary, cause great alarm.
Laboratory of X-ray Astronomy of the Sun of the Physical Institute named after P.N. Lebedev of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN) spread the following message:
“The mass ejection from X9.3 has reached Earth. A plasma cloud from the Sun came to orbit our planet at about 2 am Moscow time, about 12 hours earlier than expected. This means that its speed exceeded the expected 1.5 times, and the impact on the Earth was made with more power than planned. The direction of the magnetic field of the ejection, based on the data of the ACE device operating 1.5 million km from the Earth and the first to meet a sunstroke, is unfavorable for our planet - the field is directed opposite to that of the Earth and is currently "burning" the lines of the Earth's field.
The message almost caused panic. The Internet communities took it literally: they say, the guard, the lines of the Earth's field are burning. Save yourself who can.
In the laboratory, they explained to me that they meant a little different. Although they admitted: the word "burns", even in quotation marks, was not the most successful.
The essence is as follows: a plasma bunch, or coronal ejection generated by a flare, has its own magnetic field and the so-called field lines frozen into it. Having approached, the field of the bunch begins to interact with the magnetic field of the Earth. And weaken it - in the event that the field of the bunch turns out to be directed in the opposite direction from us. As it happened today. Accordingly, in a weakened earth's magnetic field, it seems that there are fewer lines of force. "They reconnect" - scientists call a similar phenomenon.
The picture of the distribution of field lines in the Earth's magnetic field is restored after the charged plasma passes our planet. Although while the field that protects us from cosmic radiation is weakened, charged particles can penetrate deeper into the atmosphere than usual. The magnetic storm also becomes more powerful.
On this occasion, the Laboratory of X-ray Astronomy of the Sun of the Lebedev Physical Institute informed on September 8 at 10 a.m. Moscow time:
“There is a level 4 magnetic storm on Earth on a 5-point scale. The force of the event is about 10 times greater than predicted. Canada, now on the night side of the Earth, has strong auroras at high and middle latitudes. The storm is planetary in nature. "
It is possible that the northern lights will flash even over Moscow. However, its flashes should not be mistaken for the burning lines of force of the Earth's magnetic field. Radiance is in itself. Although it penetrates the atmosphere of our planet not without interaction with the magnetic field.
WHAT WAS IT
On September 6, 2017, two powerful flares occurred on the Sun - first of the X2.2 class, then - X 9.3. On September 7, two more followed - one weaker flash of class M 7.3, the other very stronger - class X 1.3. The source of the flares was the same spot. It is also the active region AR 2673, which began to "spark" on September 4.
The flares were followed by a coronal ejection.
The September 6 outbreak was the most powerful in 12 years. But not a record one. In the ranking, which heliophysicists have been conducting since 1976, the X28 outbreak was recorded, which flared up in November 2003. It was three times more powerful than the current one. Nothing catastrophic happened then.
REFERENCE "KOMSOMOLKA"
In the report of the Laboratory of X-ray Astronomy of the Sun of FIAN, the ACE device is mentioned. This is NASA's Space Observatory - Advanced Composition Explorer. She studies, among other things, the so-called solar wind - energy particles emitted by the sun. Photographs, transfers information in real time. It is located at the so-called Lagrazhne point - where the gravity of the Sun and the Earth balance each other.
This is one and a half million kilometers from us.
The observatory was launched back in 1997. But as NASA assures, it works properly. There will be enough fuel on board until 2024.
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The mass ejection from the X9.3 flare that occurred has reached Earth.
"TVNZ"