Extreme Solar Activity
We all depend on the Sun for life. Whether we know it or not, those of us who watch TV depend on communications satellites for efficient distribution. Broadcast television networks, cable TV, and, of course, direct broadcast satellite — they all depend on satcom systems to get their programming to us, 24x7x365.
Now, more than ever, people are personally dependent on GPS satellites to find their way. Hosted a party over the weekend, and it was the first time nobody asked for direction. "We got GPS," was the response.
Us rocket scientists — and various "sat nuts" who follow these activities — have know the Earth’s magnetic fields are greatly affected by the Sun’s activities, such as sunspots.
The European Space Agency published a report measuring such extreme solar events last week:
“With these detailed observations, we’ll be able to plug in data and better estimate what happens to the inner magnetosphere and near-Earth space during such explosions on the Sun”, said Iannis Dandouras, lead author of the results published recently, and Principal Investigator of the Cluster Ion Spectrometer.
“Looking at such a large-scale physical phenomena with a single satellite is akin to predicting the impact of a tsunami with a single buoy,” added Matt Taylor, ESA’s Project Scientist for Cluster and Double Star. “With Cluster and Double Star we have monitored both sides of Earth simultaneously, and obtained valuable in-situ data.”
Get deeper here. And be sure to check out the animations and images.
