Space weather brings us the shimmering auroras known as the Northern and Southern Lights. But its effects aren’t always so benign. In certain circumstances, it can wreak havoc on our technology-dependent civilization.

Indirectly, space weather can affect satellites by heating the upper atmosphere and causing it to expand. The expanded atmosphere is denser at higher altitudes, and this greater density puts a drag on orbiting satellites.

Different types of space weather can affect different technologies at Earth. Solar flares can produce strong x-rays that degrade or block high-frequency radio waves used for radio communication during events known as Radio Blackout Storms. Space weather will impact people who depend on these technologies.

Studying space weather is important to our national economy because solar storms can affect the advanced technology we have become so dependent upon in our everyday lives. Energy and radiation from solar flares and coronal mass ejections can: Harm astronauts in space. Damage sensitive electronics on orbiting spacecraft …

The sun is the main source of space weather. Sudden bursts of plasma and magnetic field structures from the sun’s atmosphere called coronal mass ejections (CME) together with sudden bursts of radiation, or solar flares, all cause space weather effects here on Earth.

Space weather is monitored at ground level by observing changes in the Earth’s magnetic field over periods of seconds to days, by observing the surface of the Sun and by observing radio noise created in the Sun’s atmosphere.

Hot things move quickly, cold things very slowly. If atoms come to a complete stop, they are at absolute zero. Space is just above that, at an average temperature of 2.7 Kelvin (about minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit).

The largest space weather events are caused when the Sun experiences a giant magnetic eruption from a sunspot region. These eruptions are announced by an immediate burst of electromagnetic radiation, including X-rays and ultraviolet light, called a solar flare.

Based on a thorough analysis of current conditions, comparing these conditions to past situations, and using numerical models similar to weather models, forecasters are able to predict space weather on times scales of hours to weeks.

Solar flares (sudden brightenings) affect the ionosphere immediately, with adverse effects upon communications and radio navigation.Solar energetic particles arrive in 20 minutes to several hours, threatening the electronics of spacecraft and unprotected astronauts, as they rise to 10,000 times the quiet background …

Occasionally, space weather interacting with Earth can cause auroras to extend even further away from the poles. When the solar wind reaches Earth’s magnetic field, it can cause magnetic reconnection, an explosive process that allows charged particles from space to accelerate into the atmosphere.

Your smartphone may be able to sense space weather and even get a little disoriented by it, according to Odenwald, who tested how geomagnetic storms affect the magnetic sensors in cell phones. Geomagnetic storms can buffet and temporarily alter the shape of Earth’s magnetic field.

Intense solar activity may affect Earth, disrupting radio and cell frequencies. If the storms are powerful enough, they could temporarily interrupt radio frequencies, GPS signals and cell phone communication, and possibly affect power grids, according to Space.com.

Odenwald found that smartphone magnetometers are capable of detecting the very small magnetic field changes that accompany the strongest geomagnetic storms, especially at higher latitudes in North America, where magnetic field lines converge and dip earthward as they near the magnetic north pole.

What is the danger of a solar storm in space? Very high-energy particles, such as those carried by CMEs, can cause radiation poisoning to humans and other mammals. They would be dangerous to unshielded astronauts, say, astronauts traveling to the moon. Large doses could be fatal.

Top 50 solar flares of the year 2020

Most flares are quite short really, less than hour. The longest flare that we’ve seen with the Japanese Yohkoh satellite was 12 hours though. Compared to flares on other stars though the Sun is a bit of a wimp – some of those flares are a thousand times more energetic than the Sun and can last up to 10 days!