Recently, there have been auroras in many places due to geomagnetic storms!Experts explain why

Mondo Science Updated on 2024-01-28

Recently, there has been an aurora phenomenon in Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Beijing and other places in China. The fact that the aurora can be seen in Beijing, which is located in the mid-latitudes, is actually related to the recent geomagnetic storm. So, what is a geomagnetic storm?Does it have any impact on our daily lives?

At the end of November, the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration predicted that geomagnetic storms may occur on November 30, December 1 and December 2, and the beautiful aurora phenomenon will arrive as scheduled.

Lin Jun, a researcher at the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "The aurora is the most direct product of the geomagnetic storm, that is, after the earth's magnetic field is strongly disturbed, it raises the surrounding charged particles to a very high energy, or accelerates the charged particles. ”

According to astronomers, aurora generally occurs at high latitudes, such as near the North and South poles. If the solar eruption is too violent and the geomagnetic storm is too intense, auroras can occur at lower latitudes.

Lin Jun, a researcher at the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "Two days ago, there was a solar eruption above the moderate level, which produced a relatively considerable geomagnetic storm, so the aurora caused by the geomagnetic storm, like the latitude of Beijing, is not high, and the aurora is seen at a latitude of more than 30 degrees, indicating that the geomagnetic storm is still relatively strong." ”

Lin Jun said that before understanding geomagnetic storms, we must first clarify the fact that both the earth and the sun have magnetic fields, and both can generate new magnetic fields on their own. The magnetic field of the sun will follow the solar wind to continuously leave the sun into space, and will also be thrown into space during the solar eruption, and these magnetic fields into space will interact with the earth's magnetic field after coming to the vicinity of the earth, causing violent disturbances to the earth's magnetic field, thus forming a geomagnetic storm.

Lin Jun, a researcher at the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "After the geomagnetic storm is generated, it shows that the earth's original magnetic field has been disturbed, so the disturbance of this magnetic field will cause different degrees of interference or even damage to all electrical and magnetic-related instruments and equipment in the earth's surrounding environment, and human activities. ”

According to Lin Jun, there have been four strong geomagnetic storms recorded in history, including one that occurred in late October and early November 2003, causing 50,000 households in southern Sweden to lose power for a short time, and many satellites were also affected to varying degrees.

Lin Jun, a researcher at the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "Because we have no way to control the sun, we can only know in advance the solar physicists, study the activities of the sun, and then the changes in the sun's magnetic field, what kind of intense activities will be produced in advance, so at this time, we make some preparations in advance, for example, some important equipment can be turned off if it is not used temporarily." ”

For the general population,

**According to the solar physicist**,

Remind everyone in advance that it is possible

Some anomalies have occurred,

Avoid unnecessary panic.

The current study has not found geomagnetic storms

It will have an impact on human health.

Reporter: Li Xiaowen.

Editor: Dong Yanping.

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