China News Service, Beijing, March 25 (Wei Xianghui) According to the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration, a moderate or above geomagnetic storm or even a geomagnetic storm may occur on March 25, and geomagnetic activity is expected to continue until the 26th.
What is a geomagnetic storm?
Geomagnetic storm is a typical solar explosive event. When the sun explodes, a coronal mass ejection occurs. A single ejection can throw billions of tons of solar material away from the sun's surface at a high speed of hundreds to thousands of meters per second. These substances not only include kinetic energy formed by the accumulation of huge mass and speed, but also carry the sun's powerful magnetic field energy. Once they hit the earth, they will trigger changes in the direction and size of the geomagnetic field, known as geomagnetic storms.
The coronal mass ejection (CME) process occurred almost directly opposite the Earth, so when viewed from the Earth, the ejection formed a circular surface, which is what we mentioned in the past as a "full halo". The solar material ejected by such explosive activities is faster than the earth and has a high coverage, which may cause relatively strong geomagnetic activity.
Who will be affected by geomagnetic storms?
The National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration issued a statement stating that from the perspective of watching the aurora show, such an "upright and solid" outbreak can be regarded as a template level, coupled with the excellent time shortly after the vernal equinox. Point, the expectations of Aurora Hunters can indeed be increased by a few more + numbers.
However, for the majority of pigeon players, they need to pay extra attention in the next few days and try to minimize flying activities under adverse weather conditions and long distances.
Zong Weiguo, director of the Space Weather Technology R&D Office of the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center, said that geomagnetic storms will not have an impact on human health. The earth's magnetic field is a protective layer. With the earth's magnetic field, solar activity will not directly act on the earth's surface. A lot of energy and matter are blocked by the magnetic field, so it will not have much impact on human life. It can be understood that the earth's magnetic field is like an "immune system", and geomagnetic storms are an "immune response" to solar matter.
On December 1, 2023, auroras occurred in many places in Ergun City. Photo by Chai Ruifeng
Will it bring aurora?
On the night of December 1 last year, due to the emergence of a geomagnetic storm, netizens in Mohe and Daqing, Heilongjiang, northern China, Tengger, Genhe and other places in Inner Mongolia took photos of auroras. Even Huairou and Mentougou, Beijing, recorded aurora phenomena. This is the first time in the history of Beijing. The second auroral image record.
Regarding whether Beijing can still observe the aurora in the near future, Zong Weiguo said that the observation of the aurora is related to many factors, including weather and the time when the aurora appears. "We are not yet sure when the geomagnetic storm will occur. We can only estimate that it may occur on the night of the 25th or at noon tomorrow. If the aurora appears during the day, the aurora will not be observed because the background light is too bright." ( over)