Matahari Luncurkan Semburan Particle Energik, Ganggu Komunikasi Di Amerika Utara

Illustration of solar storms. (photo dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - An energetic burst of particles from the sun caused a blackout of communications across the United States on Tuesday morning, May 14. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported this disruption occurred at around 12:51 p.m. ET.

Sunspots, classified as X8.8, are the strongest in this cycle that began in 2017. NOAA stated that the burst was a level 3 radio outage (R3) on a scale of one to five.

Impacts and Causes

Semburan ini berasal dari sebuah titik sun yang telah mengganggu planet kita selama beberapa hari terakhir. NOAA mengungkapkan bahwa ukuran titik sun ini comparable dengan yang menyebabkan kilashari terburuk dalam sejarah.

"This X burst is the largest in this cycle so far. It should be our first level R4 radio outage, but partially blocked by the sun," said space weather physics expert, Dr. Tamitha Skov, quoted by VOI from DailyMail.com.

Solar Cycle And Prediction

The current solar cycle began in mid-December 2016. "We are now in the maximum phase of the sun," said Skov. "It's hard to say whether we've passed the maximum peak of the sun or not. (I doubt because I think this cycle will have two peaks, like the previous cycle.) Time will tell."

The point of the sun that caused this turmoil was AR 3664, which grew as big as the point that caused the Carrington incident in 1859, which burned the telegraph station and cut communication around the world. AR 3664 came out of Earth's sight on Tuesday, but said goodbye to one last explosion.

Dangers and Impacts

Subatomic dust from electrons and protons from these bursts could also hit our planet, which could cause disruption to satellite communications, radiation hazards to astronauts, and disrupt Earth's power grid. NOAA predicts 60 percent of this event will likely occur on Tuesday.

This event, called a radiation storm, is guided by a magnetic field that is curved from the sun to our solar system. Charged particles from the solar flare could be trapped in this spiral, firing back at Earth that should have missed our planet.

Latest Warning And Activities

NOAA has issued a Badminton of Severe Geomagnetic Storm (G4) on Thursday night, the first time this warning has been issued in 20 years. Geomagnetic storms occur when high-energy particles released from solar flares reach Earth.

After the storm hit on Friday, farmers in Minnesota, Nebraska, and other parts of the American minimum experienced satellite disruptions to the 'global dose system' (GPS) equipment they rely on to operate their equipment.

However, this storm also brings amazing North Light around the world. Millions of Americans from Maine to Alabama can also see this natural light show.