Cosmic storm has just attacked the earth

A storm from the sun came down on Earth on April 5 but did not cause any damage.

Magnetic storms cause aurora at the top of Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland on April 5.Photo: Newscientist.

On April 3, the SOHO spacecraft spotted a cloud of charged particles escaping from the sun at speeds of 500 km / s. Experts say that at that rate, the cloud could fly to Earth for almost three days from the start. But it actually came to the green planet on April 5, a day earlier than expected.

"The cloud is stronger and reaches the Earth earlier than the scientific world," said Doug Biesecker, an expert at the Space Weather Forecast Center of the US National and Atmospheric Administration.

Fortunately, the storm is not strong enough to sabotage the load systems and cause paralysis of artificial satellites. However, it creates aurora in many places, including Iceland. Newscientist said, this is the strongest storm since December 2006.

Magnetic storms occur when charged particles emanating from the solar wind act on the earth's magnetic induction lines. They can paralyze the operation of artificial satellites and even attack power networks on the ground. Scientists have calculated that magnetic storms reach a maximum of 11 years. According to the Telegraph, astronomers predict the upcoming peak of the storm from which it will coincide with the 12th Olympic Games in London, England.