Stormy week

At the end of this week, scientists recorded one of the most powerful in the history of observations a series of flashes in the sun. From September 4 to 9, six mergers of solar spots occurred, which led to the release of huge energy, which cannot but affect the Earth. Their graphs on their website are published by the laboratory of X -ray astronomy of the Sun.

“X-ray radiation reaches the planet in eight minutes, heavy particles-in a few hours, clouds of plasma-for two to three days. The coronal emission from the first outbreak has already reached the ground, the planet collided with a solar plasma cloud with a diameter of about one hundred million kilometers, although it previously predicted that this would happen by Friday evening, ” Lenta writes.

The first flash in the sun led to a magnetic storm on the ground with a power of 4 points on a five -point scale. As a result, in the USA and Europe, mobile operators noted slight deterioration of its quality. The "Big Three" of Russian signalmen said that the outbreaks did not affect the work of their equipment. Although the forecasts were negative.

“The prevailing conditions in the near -Earth space (large magnetic Boer plus a solar proton event) will pose a real radiation hazard for devices and crew of space objects,” the statement on the website of the Institute of Earth Magnetism, the ionosphere and the spread of radio waves said.

Nevertheless, the crew of the ISS did not notice the negative impact of solar activity.

“We track flashes in the sun recorded this week, but we are not observing any negative impact on the crew of the station or the operation of its equipment,” said NASA, Osales, Cheryl Warner, TASS .

Flies in the sun and work of military equipment did not affect. In particular, the one that is in service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

“The on -duty forces of the ground automated control complex perform communication and control sessions of the spacecraft of the Russian orbital group in normal mode. The magnetic storm caused by a flash in the Sun did not have a negative impact on the Russian orbital group and ground -based control systems for the space devices of the Russian space forces, ” the Interfax told the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Scientists do not agree on how much time the activity in the Sun from September 4 to 9 will pose a threat to the Earth, but almost everyone says that even if magnetic storms continue, there is no serious danger.

“The geomagnetic storm began when the plasma cloud came into contact. Now it will continue depending on the size of this cloud. It can be a clock, a day or two. But the geomagnetic field of the Earth, of course, will be restored. You cannot even say that it has very much decreased. We are talking about percent or even percent shares. In some places it is very felt, but in some-not very. Even now, we have a compass how it worked in medium latitudes, for example, in Moscow, it is so reliable and shows to the north. Nothing terrible happens, ”said Boris Filippov , a leading researcher at the Institute of Earth Magnetism, Jonosfer, and the spread of radio waves.

The same applies to the reports that magnetic storms and flashes that caused them in the sun can somehow affect the health of earthlings.

“Such facts have not yet been recorded by scientific research. Theoretically, yes, this is possible, but practically this is not proved. It must be understood that the “placebo effect” in the sensations of people reading news about outbreaks, as well as stains in the sun, more affects their physical and psycho -emotional state. A person is worried, expects trouble, so they are happening, ”said Ivan Moiseev, the head of the Moscow Space Club , RIA Novosti .

“In order to conduct a study of the influence of magnetic storm on the health and state of a person, it is necessary to have clear criteria that can be measured. A headache or tachycardia is not a criterion, such symptoms can be caused by a mass of other causes, the same change in the weather, for example, a change in atmospheric pressure. And the magnetic storm on atmospheric pressure does not affect, ”said Alexei Struminsky, a leading researcher at the Institute of Cosmic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences .

From visible effects, earthlings could observe polar radiance in latitudes, where, as a rule, they do not happen. In particular, scientists said that the optical phenomenon could be seen in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, but so far there were no reports of radiance.

Scientists are still versed in why outbreaks occur in the sun. “Outbreaks occur, as a rule, in the places of interaction of solar spots on the border of the regions of the northern and southern magnetic polarities. This leads to the rapid release of the energy of the magnetic and electric fields, which then goes to heating the plasma, ”the tape recalls.