High-speed solar storm may hit Earth today Mobile signals, GPS, Satellite TVs may be impacted

An intense and powerful solar radiation storm from the biggest solar flares in 4 years is travelling at an estimated speed of 1.6 million kilometers per hour and is expected to hit the Earth on Sunday, July 11 or on Monday, July 12, Space Weather forecasters have predicted.

The solar storm that originated from the Sun's atmosphere can have a very relevant impact on a region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field, the report said.

Solar winds are streams of charged particles or plasma that erupt from the Sun and out into space.

According to the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the solar storm is moving towards the Earth at a speed of about 1.6 million kilometers per hour and maybe its speed will increase further.

The storm, which is the result of the stream of solar charged particles moving in Earth's direction, is expected to batter parts of the planet between July 11-12. Experts fear that the strong winds may trigger a geomagnetic storm in Earth's magnetosphere which includes the upper reaches of Earth in space.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

According to the United States-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Centre, variations on solar winds can produce changes in the Earth's magnetic fields as well as the plasmas and currents existing in Earth's magnetosphere.

Geomagnetic storms, thus, refer to major or minor disturbances occurring in Earth's magnetosphere due to the "efficient exchange of energy" from solar winds entering Earth's space environment.

According to estimates by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) solar winds are known to blow at a speed of one million miles per hour and go can go even faster.

NASA said that satellite signals can be interrupted by solar storms. It also estimates that these winds top, on average, speeds of about one million miles per hour but can go faster.

Impact caused by solar storm

As the highly charged particles from the solar atmosphere with high velocities get accelerated to large fractions of the speed of light towards the Earth, there are several significant impacts likely to be caused. 'When energetic protons collide with satellites or humans in space, they can penetrate deep into the object that they collide with and can cause interference with GPS navigation, mobile phone signal and satellite TV. The current in power lines can be high, which can also blow transformers.
Due to solar storms, the outer atmosphere of the Earth can be heated which can have a direct effect on satellites.