Despite a total of 45 spots and one activity group (a set of spots) being observed in the sun, the solar perturbation which began yesterday has turned into a geomagnetic storm today, deputy director for Science of Shamakhy Astrophysical Observatory named after Nasraddin Tusi of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Elchin Babayev told on Aug.27.
According to him, one of the main geomagnetic indexes, Kp, has reached 6 (maximum 9). A large group of sports, AR2403, observed on the Sun’s surface, has a complex magnetic field but will soon go behind the solar disc due to the sun’s rotation, he said.
“Arbitrary flares are not going to be dangerous. But if any flares occur in the coming two days (this flare may be of the powerful roentgen category), there may be short offs in radio waves and radiation storms. The current geomagnetic storm on the Sun was caused by Z component of the interplanetary magnetic field suddenly turning southward. In this case, solar wind plasma easily penetrates into the Earth’s magnetosphere, which leads to a geomagnetic perturbation,” Babeyev stressed.
The storm is gradually weakening, but the geomagnetic perturbation will continue over the next three days, said Babayev, adding “the reason for this is the effect of the high-speed solar wind that begins from coronal holes on the Sun’s surface.
He also noted that for healthy people there is no reason for concern, but people categorized in risk group need to take preventive measures based on doctor’s recommendation.
Sudden geomagnetic storm begins on Sun
27 August 2015
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