Solar storm barrelling toward Earth

14 Jul 2012, 4:36 pm   -   Source: AAP
A solar storm is due to arrive on Saturday morning slamming into Earth's magnetic field. (AAP)

A solar storm is due to arrive on Saturday morning slamming into Earth's magnetic field. (AAP)

Shimmering auroras may be visible this weekend as a solar storm slams into Earth's magnetic field.

A solar storm is due to arrive on Saturday morning and last through to Sunday, slamming into Earth's magnetic field.

Scientists say it will be a minor event, and they have notified power grid operators, airlines and other potentially affected parties.

"We don't see any ill effects to any systems," forecaster Joe Kunches at the US Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado said on Friday.

There's a bright side to stormy space weather: It tends to spawn colourful northern lights as the charged particles bombard Earth's outer magnetic field. Shimmering auroras may be visible at the United States-Canada border and northern Europe this weekend, Kunches said.

The storm began on Thursday when the sun unleashed a massive flare that hurled a cloud of highly charged particles racing toward Earth at 4.8 million km/h. It was the sixth time this year that such a powerful solar outburst has occurred. None of the previous storms caused major problems.

In severe cases, solar storms can cause power blackouts, damage satellites and disrupt GPS signals and high-frequency radio communications. Airlines are sometimes forced to reroute flights to avoid the extra radiation around the poles.

In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing six million people to lose electricity.

Juha-Pekka Luntama, a space weather expert at the European Space Agency, said utility and navigation operators "will certainly see something, but they will probably find ways to deal with any problems."

The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle of solar activity, which is supposed to reach peak storminess next year.

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