Some Facts About Solar wind and Sunspots

Sunspots ---

facts

• The first telescope to observe sunspots was in 1610 AM

• Sunspots have an 11 year cycle, the number increases to the 11thyear and then decreasing.

• In 1890, a scientist, named E. Maunder noticed that the number of sunspots noticeably fell between the years of 1645 and 1715. The name for this period is called the Maunder Minimum.

• An average speed of the solar wind as it leaves the sun is 400 km/second.

• The pressure from the solar wind is incredibly powerful and creates a “heliosphere” that goes out as far as Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.

• The area where the heliosphere ends is also the area where the solar wind is subsonic. This is a unique occurrence and is called the termination shock.

• Life on Earth is protected against the solar wind by Earth’s magnetic field.

• When some of the solar wind hits the polar regions of the Earth it creates the auroras.

• The existence of particles flowing outward from the Sun to the Earth was first suggested by British astronomer Richard C. Carrington. In 1859, Carrington and Richard Hodgson independently made the first observations of what would later be called a solar flare.

Solar wind:

Another natural phenomenon present in the universe is geomagnetic storms, a movement of the Earth’s magnetosphere (layer formed by the interaction of the earth’s magnetism and solar wind) that can be caused by waves that collide with the solar wind or a wave made of radiation Usually, the increase in solar wind pressure can compress the magnetosphere while the magnetic fields of the solar wind and the Earth interact transferring energy to the magnetosphere.

This process is divided into three stages:

The solar eruption occurs on the surface of the sun and its origin is due to magnetic reconnection.

Release of electromagnetic radiation, can occur from gamma rays to radio waves, colliding with the Earth for approximately eight minutes.

And finally, coronal mass ejection occurs, this coronal mass can cause damage to satellites, electrical transformers and telecommunications.

One of the greatest effects, we can witness in the field of telecommunications, specifically in radio navigation systems, since geomagnetic storms can alter the trajectory of radio signals, and generate errors in the information provided by GPS Technological systems can have major failures and satellite communications could be affected for a period of time.

Radio Interference

When the solar wind mixes with the ionosphere, it becomes super-ionized, causing destructive, rather than productive, interference. The turbulence interferes with radio transmissions. In some instances, broadcasts can be picked up hundreds or thousands of miles from the transmitter. In others, signals cancel each other out, creating areas where reception is poor.

Ground-Based Interference

Particularly strong solar flares can affect electronic equipment on the ground as well as signals in space; any long metal object or wire can act as an antenna, turning the incoming

stream of particles into an electric current. These currents may be relatively weak, adding noise to existing broadcasts; however, stronger currents can overload and burn out electronic equipment.

As the wind travels off the sun, it carries charged particles and magnetic clouds. Emitted in all directions, some of the solar wind is constantly buffeting our planet, with interesting effects.

If the material carried by the solar wind reached a planet's surface, its radiation would do severe damage to any life that might exist. Earth's magnetic field serves as a shield, redirecting the material around the planet so that it streams beyond it.

The force of the wind stretches out the magnetic field so that it is smooched inward on the sun-side and stretched out on the night side.it spits out large bursts of plasma known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or solar storms. More common during the active period of the cycle known as the solar maximum, CMEs have a stronger effect than the standard solar wind.

When the solar wind carries CMEs and other powerful bursts of radiation into a planet's magnetic field, it can cause the magnetic field on the back side to press together, a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Charged particles then stream back toward the planet's magnetic poles, causing beautiful displays known as the aurora borealis in the upper atmosphere.

When the high- and low-speed streams interact with one another, they create dense regions known as co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs) that trigger geomagnetic storms when they interact with Earth's atmosphere.

The most powerful solar storms send coronal mass ejections (CMEs), containing charged particles, into space. If Earth happens to be in the path of a CME, the charged particles can slam into our atmosphere, disrupt satellites in orbit and even cause them to fail, and bathe high-flying airplanes with radiation.

They can disrupt telecommunications and navigation systems. They have the potential to affect power grids, and have been known to black out entire cities, even entire regions.

The solar wind and the charged particles it carries can affect Earth's satellites and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Powerful bursts can damage satellites, or can push GPS signals to be off by tens of meters.

March 13, 1989, A CME caused a power failure in Québec, as well as across parts of the north-eastern U.S. In this event, the electrical supply was cut off to over 6 million people for nine hours.

In 1991, as a consequence of Solar wind, large parts of Canada and the United States experienced a major power failure. Variations in the solar wind cause electric storms and corrosion in the many kilometers long pipelines of Alaska.

Storms disturb radio transmissions, and also space travel has to deal with certain consequences. The charged particles of the solar wind can be compared to radioactive radiation. It isn't the first time that a satellite breaks down due to the intense radiations during a storm.