A privilege to be in Longyearbyen with the hardest working news team in the Arctic: producer @Nflwright; camera & edit @simonitn. pic.twitter.com/FeBDmSAkON
— Peter A Smith (@PeterAdamSmith) October 11, 2021
Solar storm ranked M-class event
The Sky news site reported that “As Earth’s magnetic field redirects the particles toward the North Pole, the dramatic process transforms into a cinematic atmospheric phenomenon that dazzles and fascinates scientists and skywatchers alike.”
Usually, we are protected from the sun’s radiation thanks to our ionosphere. It serves as Earth’s magnetic shield to deflect much of the heat and light. But sometimes, solar storms can penetrate the shield. And that results in problems with anything powered by electromagnetism.
During the next 24 to 48 hours it is expected that on Earth we will be experiencing a dramatic increase in solar activity. There are several classes of solar flares, with X-class considered the most intense. The one observed Saturday was an M-class event, the second-strongest.
Most of the time, we’re protected from the sun’s radiation thanks to the ionosphere. Earth’s magnetic shield deflects much of the heat and light. But sometimes, solar flares can penetrate the shield. And that results in problems with anything powered by electromagnetism.
