All articles tagged with #solar storm
Entertainment digest reports Black Mirror season 8 is in production, a Simpsons: Yellow Mirror parody episode will stream on Disney+, and a wave of other updates including Solar Storm from Saw V’s David Hackl, Greta Gerwig’s expensive Narnia movie on Netflix, a February 24, 2027 release for the Cliffhanger reboot, and Bond 26 rumors, along with new trailers/images from various genre projects.
StemRad's AstroRad vest, a wearable radiation shield designed to protect bone marrow-rich tissues, was tested on NASA’s Artemis I mission around the Moon. Using dosimeters and simulations, the vest reduced a 1972-style solar-storm dose by about 60% and a harder 1989-style event by about 40%, performing comparably to the Orion storm shelter but without restricting movement. Weighing 26 kg (with optimizations bringing it to 16 kg), the vest uses hexagonal HDPE rods to stay flexible, but it offers little protection against galactic cosmic rays. Real-world validation would require a real solar storm; researchers aim to further reduce weight while preserving protection.
A Boston University team led by Brian Walsh proposes StormWall, a six-satellite fleet in geosynchronous orbit that would release mass-loading materials (e.g., barium, lithium, sodium, calcium) which ionize into a plasma cloud at the sun-facing edge of Earth’s magnetosphere. The artificial plasma would thicken the magnetopause, disrupting magnetic reconnection and potentially reducing a major geomagnetic storm’s intensity by more than 50%. The idea targets protecting satellites, communications, GPS, and electrical grids. It would be a one-and-done deployment (no replenishment) and would be costly, but private space activity could tip the economics in its favor. The concept was tested via simulations of the May 2024 “Mother’s Day” storm and details were published in Space Weather (June 2).
A major solar outburst is driving geomagnetic activity that could produce auroras across roughly half the United States tonight, depending on weather and light conditions, with the northern tier most likely to see the lights and southern areas possible if skies stay clear.
The UK STFC warns that extreme space weather, though rare, could cripple satellites and GPS, disrupt or destroy terrestrial power grids for up to two weeks, trigger cascading global outages, threaten crewed missions, and highlight the need for stronger protection as satellite networks expand.
Space.com reports a UK STFC study on a Carrington-scale space weather event, warning that such an extreme solar storm could knock out satellites, GPS, and power grids while also triggering panic buying, public disorder, and the rapid spread of conspiracy theories among a population with limited space-weather literacy. The piece emphasizes the need to bolster infrastructure resilience and improve public understanding to mitigate social disruption when technology and behavior intersect during severe space weather, an event estimated to occur roughly once every 100–200 years.
A UK-led study warns that a rare but extreme solar storm could disrupt satellites and GPS, cripple communications, and overload power grids, potentially causing long outages and cascading infrastructure damage. While unlikely, the scenario underscores the need for preparedness as space weather remains a hidden risk to everyday technology.
A 1204 CE Japanese poem describing “red lights in the northern sky” is linked to a powerful solar storm. By combining historical records with tree-ring carbon-14 dating (dendrochronology), researchers confirm a medieval solar event and a shorter 7–8 year solar cycle, also identifying sub-extreme solar proton events that could threaten today’s technology.
A UK STFC report outlines a worst-case space weather event about every 100–200 years that could disrupt satellites, GPS, radio signals and power grids; while unlikely, the potential impacts would be severe, though advances in solar monitoring and forecasting are improving preparedness.
Two ESA Mars-orbiting missions, Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, observed a powerful solar superstorm that also struck Earth in May 2024 and hit Mars, flooding the planet’s upper atmosphere with electrons (about 45% at ~110 km and 278% at ~130 km) and causing radiation-induced glitches in the spacecraft. Using a radio occultation technique, scientists mapped the atmospheric response and noted that Mars—lacking a global magnetic field—reacts differently to space weather than Earth; the observations were unusually well-timed after a large solar flare, and the results were published in Nature Communications.
A May 2024 solar superstorm from sunspot AR3664 produced an X2.9 flare and a coronal mass ejection that not only triggered a major Earth geomagnetic storm but also dramatically swelled Mars’s lower ionosphere—nearly threefold—as solar plasma and X‑rays flooded the planet’s upper atmosphere. ESA’s Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter used radio occultation to measure the changes, showing how solar activity injects energy and particles into Mars’s atmosphere and highlighting its ongoing atmospheric loss. The orbiters briefly glitching during the storm but ultimately recovering demonstrates the value of radiation‑hard spacecraft for space weather studies.
NOAA forecasts a bright aurora borealis display tonight across 12 U.S. states due to intensified solar activity, offering a rare Valentine’s Day sky show. The best viewing window is 10 p.m.–midnight local time, with the possibility of the lights lingering until dawn in northern areas; colors like green, red, and purple are expected, and New York and Michigan could see it despite being typically too far south. To maximize visibility, seek dark skies away from city lights, and check local weather for clear skies. The event is linked to the sun’s approaching solar cycle maximum.
Scientists warn that a powerful solar storm could abruptly trigger a Kessler syndrome–style cascade in Earth's low orbit, turning orbital debris into a self-perpetuating cloud that endangers satellites and could shower debris back to Earth. Researchers introduced the CRASH clock, suggesting a catastrophic collision could unfold in roughly 5.5 days if navigation is disrupted, a sobering risk given the growing megaconstellations from SpaceX, Amazon, and others and the current high rate of in-orbit maneuvers.
This week’s science roundup spans the world’s oldest known rock art—a 70,000-year-old Sulawesi hand stencil and a 2.6-million-year-old Paranthropus jaw—alongside the discovery of a massive sub-seafloor freshwater reservoir off the U.S. East Coast that could theoretically supply New York City for centuries, plus Earth being hit by one of the largest solar radiation storms in decades, with JWST findings continuing to upend ideas about early black holes.
New analysis warns that solar storms could trigger a rapid, near-term collapse of Earth’s LEO satellite mega-constellations if command-and-control for avoidance is lost. The study introduces the CRASH Clock, estimating a catastrophic collision could occur in about 2.8 days as of mid-2025 (versus 121 days in 2018), and a 24-hour outage carries roughly a 30% chance of seeding long-term debris cascades. Solar storms heat the atmosphere, increasing drag and degrading orbit predictions while possibly disabling satellite navigation and communications, leaving many satellites unable to dodge each other. Authored by Sarah Thiele and colleagues and posted on arXiv, the work argues for real-time tracking and control to prevent a “house of cards” collapse of space infrastructure, a risk underscored by the 2024 Gannon storm and the historic Carrington Event.