Tuesday night there is going to be what is called a solar tsunami. Earth saw some particles of sun start flying towards it after an explosion occurred on the sun. Across the surface of the sun, there is a huge solar flare rippling which is what makes a solar tsunami. NASA is preparing for the possibility of solar flare satellite damage. This will create a display of northern lights that is magical.
Solar tsunami happens because of solar flare
The solar flare occurred on Sunday. The explosion caused a massive solar tsunami across the sun’s surface and blasted a giant wave of ionized atoms on a collision course with Earth’s magnetic field. The solar flame might hit tonight making for a rare northern lights display and geomagnetic storm, reports Fox News. There is a possibility of satellites getting hurt but it probably won’t happen.
Solar tsunami recorded in STEREO
The existence of solar flares to create a solar tsunami were confirmed by STEREO, or NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory. STEREO, reports Wired, has two spacecrafts that observe the sun. They both center on Earth’s orbit. The sun seems 3 dimensional because of the way they are positioned. The video below shows how STEREO found a solar tsunami happened in February 2009 where a 60,000 mile high way of plasma and magnetism went across the sun at 560,000 mph.
Sunday’s solar flare a rare event
The second video below shows an extremely rare solar flare from the sun. The Telegraph reports that two almost simultaneous solar flares from different locations on the sun were launched toward the Earth. Telegraph interviewed Dr. Lucie Green from England who said that the second eruption only happened as the first eruption was very large and messed up the Sun’s magnetic field. The result might be a major, prolonged geomagnetic storm that triggers solar flare satellite damage and northern lights at low latitudes.
Northern lights on display
Solar flares will hit Earth’s atmosphere causing the oxygen and nitrogen to hit charged particles from the sun which causes the northern lights show to happen. As outlined by GMTV, charged particles and gas atoms hitting one another makes for energy bursts in the sky looking like colorful light. The color of the light depends on which gas is being excited and by how much. There can be colors like greenish-yellow, red, or blue depending on whether Oxygen or nitrogen is getting excited. Purple, pink and white can also be seen.
Fox News
foxnews.com/scitech/2010/08/03/spectacular-northern-lights-signals-sun-waking/
Wired
wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/solar-tsunami/
The Telegraph
telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7923069/Nasa-scientists-braced-for-solar-tsunami-to-hit-earth.html
YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=bMgBt-UuUak and amp;feature=related
YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=rnqubAGgx2k and amp;feature=related
