The NASA has warned that this week there has been a powerful solar eruption that could affect communications in the earth. Radio blackouts and other failures in electrical networks could occur due to the impact of solar plasma from the, called by the aerospace agency, ‘cannibal storm’.
The name has been given to it due to the unusual power of the phenomenon, produced by four coronal mass ejections in the star that gives us light and heat. These explosions in the star expel solar plasma that travels with the solar winds at a speed of 800 kilometers per second and impacts the Earth. Because some of the flares are more powerful and travel faster, they engulf their predecessors. Hence the term cannibal.
NASA has described these explosions as ‘strong’ and they all come from the mancha solar AR3500. Several satellites could be affected by this phenomenon and it is expected that more intense northern lights than usual will occur.
The first geomagnetic storms caused by solar plasma have already occurred on our planet, but this Friday the remains of the most powerful solar flares are expected to arrive.
The Earth has a natural defense shield, our magnetic field, which diverts this electric wind towards the poles. In fact, according to NASA, they are not harmful to humans. Of course, they can cause global communications failures and even the occasional interruption of the Internet.